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📜 A crisp, sunlit Monday morning in Mysore (Year 2025). The scent of fresh filter coffee and blooming mallige flowers fills the morning breeze as Ajji leads Kavya and Dev to the city bus stop for an outing to Kukkarahalli Lake.
Chapter 04 • Mysore
The City Builders & The Broken Bridge: Why We Pay Taxes
On a Monday morning bus ride to Kukkarahalli Lake, Dev accidentally snaps a heritage park bench and tries to settle it with ₹20. Meet Engineer Manjunath to discover how taxes build city infrastructure, why public property belongs to everyone, and the true cost of vandalism.
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📜 Dev bounced gently on the soft seat in excitement, gazing around the sleek zero-emission electric city bus.
Dev
"Whoa! Look inside this bus! Zero engine rumble, whisper-quiet air conditioning, cushioned royal-blue seats, and glowing LED route displays! It feels like riding a spaceship on wheels!"
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📜 Dev darted to the front handrail, looking with wide starry eyes at the digital dashboard and driver Basappa.
Dev
"Driver Uncle Basappa! Did you buy this giant ₹1 Crore electric bus with your own pocket money? You must be the richest bus driver in all of Karnataka!"
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📜 50-year-old Driver Basappa laughed warmly, steering smoothly along Krishnaraja Boulevard.
Driver Basappa
"Hahaha! Dev beta, if I had ₹1 Crore in pocket money, I would buy a mountain of Mysore Pak! No single person owns this bus. The Government bought it for all 10 lakh citizens of Mysore using collective public taxes!"
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📜 10-year-old Kavya leaned forward thoughtfully, connecting the lesson to their previous banking quests.
Kavya
"Basappa Uncle, how does the Government gather ₹1 Crore from citizens? Is there a giant iron treasure chest where everyone drops their coins?"
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📜 The bus sped past gleaming solar panels and flowering roadside gardens maintained by the city.
Driver Basappa
"Look outside the window, Kavya! Every time parents earn a salary, buy groceries, or pay property tax, a small portion goes to the city treasury. That pooled money builds these paved roads, solar streetlights, and our bus fleet!"
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📜 The electric bus hissed to a gentle stop at the ornate stone archways of Kukkarahalli Lake Botanical Park. Ajji, Kavya, Dev, and Chintoo stepped down into the cool morning shade.
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📜 Migratory painted storks and pelicans glided gracefully over the lake waters as morning walkers strolled along the pathway.
Ajji (Kalyani Amma)
"Take a deep breath of fresh air, children! Kukkarahalli Lake is Mysore’s green jewel. Look how clean the paved walking paths and flowering bushes are! That is civic care in action."
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📜 Bursting with boundless energy, Dev sprinted across the lawn and launched into an acrobatic high jump over the bench!
Dev
"Look at that brand new polished heritage teakwood park bench under the gulmohar tree! Watch me perform my legendary Flying Garuda Acrobat Leap right over the top!"
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📜 CRRAAACK! Dev’s red sneaker clipped the carved teakwood edge! The polished wooden armrest snapped clean off and crashed onto the grass with a loud splintering thud!
"Dev: "WHOOPS—MY SNEAKER CAUGHT THE CORNER! AAAHHH!""
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📜 Dev stood frozen with wide, terrified eyes, clutching his cheeks while Chintoo let out a worried whimper.
Dev
"Oh no! Oh no no no! The beautiful armrest is in two pieces! Ajji is going to ground me until the year 2099! Chintoo, don’t look at me like that!"
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📜 Ajji marched over with hands on her hips in dismay, while Kavya carefully picked up the splintered wooden armrest.
Ajji (Kalyani Amma)
"Dev! What on earth did you do?! That heritage bench was installed by the Municipal Corporation just last week for senior citizens to rest their tired legs!"
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📜 Dev frantically thrust a ₹20 note toward the surprised park gardener, hoping to settle public damage like buying a chocolate.
Dev
"Don’t worry Ajji, I can fix this! Gardener Uncle, take this crisp ₹20 note from my pocket! That pays for the wood, so we are 100% even now, right?"
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📜 A 46-year-old civil engineer in a white safety helmet, khaki work shirt, and round spectacles stepped forward with blueprint scrolls.
Engineer Manjunath
"Hold on, young builder! Put that ₹20 note back in your pocket. A city asset cannot be settled with private pocket money like a piece of broken candy."
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📜 Manjunath gently stopped Dev’s hand and gestured across the sprawling park, speaking with warm authority.
Engineer Manjunath
"I am Engineer Manjunath from Mysore City Corporation. This park bench doesn’t belong to the gardener, and it doesn’t belong to me. It belongs equally to all 10 LAKH citizens of Mysore!"
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Inspiration & Educational Attribution
FinJunior interactive quests are adapted and gamified with gratitude and inspiration from Zerodha’s Rupee Tales and Varsity Junior educational initiatives to champion early financial literacy for children across India.