534.

It is the bus number, which I choose to be a driver for.

Although I feel a bit embarrassed but this is something which I had often thought about given the fact that I have been traveling by DTC buses since my school days. They are the prized catch for any one possessing a bus pass.

I would often dwell into the finer aspects of being a bus driver, as to which route would I love to drive on.

I kept 3-4 options like 542 (Seemapuri to Hauz Khaz), 534 (Anand Vihar to Mehrauli), 543 (Anand Vihar to Safdarjung), Outer Mudrika....After a considerable amount of brain storming I chose 534 because it was the bus I traveled through the most since it goes to my college. More so I loved its route as it passes through Patparganj, Yamuna Bridge, New Friends Colony, Saket etc.

As a child I developed a liking for some of these places and even dreamt about living somewhere in one of these places (barring the bridge).

I love driving but driving a bus, I thought was a much more exciting task. I thought that it was the most enjoyable job as one can listen to FM while driving through the city all day long. You don't have any targets to achieve or dead lines to meet and it was just all about sweeping through the roads taking pit stops at one bus adda or another.

Over the course of time I have picked up the slang of drivers who in the majority of cases are JAATs. With their peculiar tone they are witty to scold any one on the roads - "tanne laal batti na dikkhe hai ke?” -no matter even if they themselves were at fault.

With new buses on the roll, the job has got all the more attractive :P.

It is one of the craziest desires that I have since my college days.