Summary:
New Delhi, Sep 21 (PTI) It has been almost a month since they hit the roads and Delhi"s 11 women bus drivers say they have seen it all -- right from being viewed with suspicion to being treated as celebrities.
Komal Choudhary (23), one of the 11 women bus drivers of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) who were handed appointment letters last month, said she is treated like a celebrity.
"When people board the bus, they do not realise that a woman is behind the wheels.
But when they are about to get off, they come up to me and say, "Oh, we did not realise that a woman was driving such a huge bus!" They also take selfies and videos with me.
I feel like a celebrity," she said.
Komal, who uses only her first name, said the on-road experience of driving a bus is entirely different from what they had experienced during the training period.
"While we were being trained, we did not have to stop at the bus stops or navigate through difficult roads carrying passengers.
It is a different experience altogether," she told PTI.
Santosh Kumari, a 40-year-old mother of a Class-12 student, said apart from riding a bicycle as a child, she had never driven a vehicle.
"Now, I am riding a bus.
From people viewing us with suspicion to some appreciating my driving skills, I have seen it all from the day I started driving on Delhi roads.
I have been driving on the Karnal Bypass bus route.
"It has happened that if the bus shook while navigating a difficult turn, people said, "This is happening because a woman is driving!" while there have also been some who said they had an extremely smooth ride," she said.
Santosh Kumari said during the training period, they were not required to drive for long durations but now that they are on the road for long hours, finding public facilities becomes difficult on certain routes.
"There are some routes where it is difficult to find washrooms and we sometimes use the washrooms at petrol pumps.