Thoughts on a Train

I can't believe that I'm writing this on a train - the LRT on my way to KLCC. I have a function to attend in town today and I decided not to drive, taking the opportunity and my day off instead to take a slow leisurely ride on the LRT.

You have to pick the right time to take these trains: that window of time right after the morning rush hour before noon-time, is the best. While I was comfortably seated in the almost empty train, I thought, why not blog? And immediately I downloaded the Blogger app, which I am using now to type these words, with my thumb.

Blogging from my phone is not something that I've done before. It'll be interesting to see how it goes. I find that it's less tiring if you tap with both thumbs. And predictive text helps a great deal too.

The train picked up more passengers and become more crowded as it approached the city centre. I stopped blogging for a while as I did not have the privacy anymore.

I 'm now back at one of my old haunts - the Starbucks on level 3 at KLCC. This was one of the places where I used to occasionally take refuge after my meetings in town, while waiting for the evening traffic to subside. 

I've not been here for at least 3 years; trips to the city are very rare occurrences in my life these days. But I do think back with fondness for those days when we would start our drinking sessions early on Fridays. We believed in working hard and playing hard. Work was an adventure, never a career. Well, I guess I've not changed that much - only the play part is missing nowadays. This is my idea of play now - sitting at the cafe, watching the world go by, allowing random thoughts to come and go, reflecting and examining. 

If I were to describe what I was 20 years ago, I would call myself a bohemian yuppie, which is an oxymoron, of course. And how would I characterize myself now? Well, with another oxymoron: a secular sanyasin. 

The good thing about age is that it puts everything into perspective. Nothing is important enough for you to lose sleep over. All things pass. Age puts you closer to the mountain top where you can see how small the houses, roads and rivers below are, and how insignificant are those ant-like creatures who are preoccupied with the mundane business of everyday life. 

It is liberating to feel that you are not burdened by all the petty concerns of youth anymore. And oxymoronically, the greatest reward of ageing is that, you get a fresh new perspective on life.