Tax.

My eyes were always riveted on the ethereal snow white facade of Ripon building ,whenever I happened to pass it by.

Today I was actually entering this building to sort out some discrepancies in actual payment of tax and what the computer was demanding . It dates back to early 1990's!

The building , the seat of municipal corporation ,at close quarters was quite different. At several places the plaster was peeling off, the heads of pillars were crumbling down,the walls were dented here and there and plants were sprouting in many a crevice.

A major part of the high ceilinged inner office was occupied by files and documents resting on rows upon rows of metal and wooden shelves, apparently undisturbed for ages. There was an inch thick ,brown dust ,coating all the tattered covers and frayed pages of the documents..

I was struck by the historicity of the dust . I t could be as old as British rule in India!

As the ancient computer sputtered out , the officer disappeared in the labyrinth, muttering that it would take an hour to fix it.We the petitioners a fistfull,did what all do here when compelled to wait ,fell into a fitful doze,in our chairs and stools, in the cool interiors ,to the comforting lullaby, of the cranking of a monstrous ceiling fan.

When the computer spurted back to life ,the glitch was ironed out ,in matter of minutes ! Since
all my old bills and orders have been well preserved.Had it been otherwise I would have had to cough up the sum, since 'Computerji' presumably is unaware of the statute of limitations.