“Because I Needed to Buy...!”

Got late in office, but it was not a problem. Because I needed to buy a kilo of potatoes only which was crucial for the dish I planned to cook that night. It was late evening when I finally left office. Across the road was the Esplanade metro railway station in Kolkata. As I descended the final steps leading to the station platform one train roared out. To my chagrin it was an air-conditioned rake. Commuting on Kolkata metro you needed a lot of luck to deserve an AC rake, because it still abounded in non-ac rakes, and if you wanted the pleasure of paying a minimum of just five bucks for a metro ride, arguably the cheapest rate across the globe, you had to pay a price in terms of lack of comfort and a consistently erratic time schedule. Also, once aboard the non-ac trains in the rush and crush you had to witness the sliding doors making at least 3 attempts to shut under normal circumstances at almost every stop and you had the unenviable option of cooling yourself with you