On The Train. Mar, 16, 2005

I have been writing on the train on the way to work for quite sometimes. Actually, after a while, there is nothing much to write as I see the usual faces doing their things everyday. Tuck in the corner behind the driver’s cabin in the first coach is a lady sleeping soundly with her face covered. A nurse in her light blue uniform is half asleep anticipating her pending arrival at Kajang right in front of me across the isle. I said before the train is a bit empty in the morning during school holidays. Commuters begin to move in slowly at UKM station and again the usual faces getting their usual preferred seats. I observes there is a new lady on board in the first coach and I found out later she gets off at KL Sentral. Yes, that in itself is another observation; percentage wise there are about 60/40 distribution of ladies and gentlemen using the train going to work. I strongly believe this is more of an ego thing rather than anything else. I could be wrong about this and I am sure there are gentlemen out there are angry reading this. Daylight breaks in as we are passing Kajang. This is always the best view in the morning for me. The light sneaking in creates silhouette across the horizon creating a sense of serenity to me. Skylines of life moving according to the speed of the train in front of me. Suddenly, my gaze falls onto somebody – hey that is my fellow commuter that I have not seen for quite sometimes and the person looks different. This is how it is sometimes people come and go on the train.

If I were an artist I would have sketch the scene in front of me. It is, huh! so hard to describe my feeling now, glowing, yes, glowing feeling I think. I realized what I have been missing when we arrived at Serdang station. There used to be an Indian young man and two Indian ladies that everyday get on at Kajang. While on the train they happily gossiping almost about everything in the full view and audible to most people in that coach. I gather they are good family friends as the two ladies were a bit older. I missed the sound of their chattering and sometimes I just smile to my self eaves dropping on their conversation. Hey, as I said conversation on a public train tends to be public. Conversation also tends to be a bit lauder as everyone wants to hear each other on top of the din. What’s funny is when the train suddenly stop they continue chatting in the same decibel and their voices could be heard very loudly across the coach. I am smiling now thinking about them. At KL Sentral the train’s belly is almost empty and a new set of commuters join me and they bring with them a different aura. They are either ‘extended commuters’ from another lines or services like PUTRA, KL Monorail and the KTMB Intercity trains. The commuters/travelers from the KTMB Intercity train are the obvious. I mean with their bags and the ‘deprived of sleep’ expression on their faces. They stand out in the crowd of clean shaven and good smelling beautiful faces.

How, I love the train