It was at 8.15pm when I boarded the LRT ( rapid rail transport ) from Gombak bound for Taman Jaya Station, 20 stations away. Boarding was easy with less than ten passengers sharing the 2 coaches. I should be at my destination in 40 minutes flat. I even carried a book to kill time, if need be. It was only after the 4th station stop when the numbers swelled with standing passengers, each minding their own business. Some passengers closed their eyes, others sleep and the younger ones looked stoned listening to their mp3s; mostly they looked tired even though it was a Sunday night. At the Pasar Seni Station, a number of passengers boarded, one of them a sixty something, tall Sikh man and having to drag his feet as he came staggering in and appeared to be limping slightly. Dressed in a long sleeves green batik with white flower motives, he appeared dazed, glassy eyed and unsteady as the train lurched forward on its intended journey. He must be drunk, perhaps after a drinking session with his buddies downtown. My suspicion was confirmed when before arriving Universiti Station, he started mumbling as though talking on his cellphone, "everything is okay,.....em don't worry, I am coming back"......flinging his free arm to one side, and the sheer force of this reflex action unsteadied him again. Indeed he was drunk and the smell of drinks was evident enough. By this time there were only a few standing passengers left and I was almost reaching Taman Jaya Station to meet-up with a friend. And I noticed that the Sikh man whom I initially thought was limping had only his right shoe on ! He must have lost the other pair ! That must be the reason for the limp. As I walked down the station, I can't help but hope that he would find his way back home, wherever it is. And I hardly turned a page of the book that I brought along.
