Kolkata Metro officials had a tough day on Saturday and it had nothing to do with tackling snags in services. The culprit: a post going viral on social media.
A picture on Facebook of a woman in ethnic wear sitting inside a coach grasping a lever has been doing the rounds since December 10. The tag emphatically says: "Kolkata Metro Rail-er prothom Mohila chalika" (Kolkata's Metrorail's first woman driver).
Congratulations and adulations poured in from netizens. Curiously, none of the posts reveal the identity of the person. The shared photos are attributed to Aloke Kumar Chattopdhyay, who in several updates has responded with a "thanks" to the numerous salutations of "wonderful post."
A section of inquisitive netizens have also questioned the veracity of the photo. "Dekhe toh mone hocche na (Doesn't really look like it)," one wrote.
Metro authorities, inundated with calls on the post, clarified it had no basis.
"I have received at least 50 calls today (on Saturday) about this. It is not true. The post seems to have gone viral," Indrani Banerjee, spokesperson of the Kolkata Metro, told IANS.
Asked about follow-up on the source, a harried Banerjee said: "I have not yet looked into it."
But anticipations for Kolkata Metro being steered by the fairer sex is not without reason.
Earlier this year, the first train of the Chennai Metro Rail chugged out on its maiden voyage with a 28-year-old diploma holder in engineering steering it on.
