The Post Office

Rabindranath Tagore · 1861–1941 · India (Bengal)

Originally Dak Ghar (Bengali) · translated by Devabrata Mukerjea

Why it matters

A dying, housebound boy watches the world outside his window and waits for a letter from the King, delivered by the post office newly built across the street. Tagore's spare one-act play turns a child's confinement into a meditation on freedom.

At a glance

A short, simple one-act structure, though its ambiguous ending rewards a second read.