Title - Taking Delhi for a ride... on metro

Don’t go by the looks when you see the five-foot tall Vibha Kumari,35,playing with her three-year old son. For, she has literally taken the national capital for a ride. Not once, but time and again. Vibha is the first woman to drive the Delhi metro vans. She joined Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in July 2002 as part of one of the first recruitment by the metro authority as a “motor man”.She was one of the only three women who could compete to get this position along with over 30 other people — all men.The first thing she did after joining was to fight for women’s identity. She got the name of the name of the post changed from motor man to something gender neutral. “We took up this issue with the authorities, who immediately changed the name to Train Operator,” Vibha says.Vibha says driving metro car has always been fascinating. “Whenever people would spot me in the cab (space in the metro where the drivers sit), they would be jaw dropped. Are ye to ladki chala rahi hai, would be their first remark out of apprehension perhaps which would then settle down as a moment of pride and fascination,” she says.“Young girls would approach me and ask how to make a career in this field,” she adds. There are around 30 women train operators in the Delhi Metro.Admitting that a rail driver’s job is not at all easy, Vibha says this is one of the most tedious jobs as only one person sits inside the cab and controls almost a dozen systems. “Usually it’s an eight-hour shift and requires 100% concentration,” she adds.

Born and brought up in Gaya, Bihar, Vibha always had big dreams.

Vibha has been promoted as station manager-cum-line supervisor and has many awards to her kitty.

How does she manage between her family and hectic shifts? “I am lucky to have a cooperative husband,” she says adding that time management and right scheduling of events are the key to success.