On track....

There is something about trains. Full of nostalgia. Reminds me of moments of my childhood. Days when we get to travel as a family during the school holidays.

Back then, my father could not even afford to buy a motorbike, so public transport was the only option. The night before, I would lay in bed, trying hard to fall asleep. Then, I would be up very early, heart pumping with excitement. Happy and looking forward to the whole idea that I will be on the ferry, across from Penang to the mainland (even though we had to brave through and squeeze our way in between the crowds to get on the bus from home to the ferry terminal) then to be on the train! I can still remember vividly, the familiar mamak selling his curry puffs, wailing “Karipap! Pap! Pap!” (the sizes of which were bigger than ordinary) and carrying his rattan weaved basket all along the carriages. Yum! Yum!

Mum would also be lugging around her own extraordinarily sized rattan basket, full of things. Mum and dad had always inculcated in us the habit of being frugal in our ways. I remembered, there were 2 flasks, one containing piping hot coffee; the other, plain warm water. Plastic cups, plates, teaspoons, hard-boiled eggs, complete with a bottle of soya sauce to go with the eggs, a tiffin carrier containing rice and home cooked meals, usually of the dry kind, for fear of spilling when the journey gets a little bit too rough. Plus a lot of other knick-knacks. We would take the train down to Kuala Lumpur once a year, during the school holidays and would stay at our cousin’s place, which used to be one of the squarter houses at Kampung Kerinci, taking bath using water from the well, washing cloths, pots and utensils using rain water which was collected on a daily basis among other things. I wonder now, why it was, we did not complain and took life as it was. I wonder too whether the children of this era would be able to go through the same, without frets and frowns? While I was at boarding school in Seremban, we used the train to get home and back to school for the holidays. The sweet encounters I have shared in my book, “Seungu Lavendar” (Malay language readers, please click here and here for reviews). Those were happy days…simple days…Ah! For the simple pleasures of life…

So, one morning, while on my way to campus, I found myself at the railway crossing. Red lights blinking and the sound of the bell never-ending…A train! It was coming! So, I could not resist taking these pictures… Passengers in the train smiling, waving….Motorists, and the people waiting patiently by the crossing, grinning back too! Watching the train go by….What a sight!

Sadly too, this crossing would soon be gone forever. For, a flyover has been planned and work has started. These moments captured, would remain in my album. And….in my heart…

Trains remind me of another thing… The journey of our life. Trains always move. And to move, they need to be on a track, without which, they would be stranded or even worse, perish! Likewise, in charting our journey through life, we need to always be on a certain track, so we may not go astray…For Muslims, our track is the syariah….No compromise...No questions asked...

We must strive to always be on the correct track. May God’s guidance be there always, in our journey in life…towards our ultimate destination….Amin…

PS. Dr. Ez’s beloved wife has passed away in the evening of Eidul Adha. May Allah reward her good deeds, wash away all her wrongdoings and place her in line with those whom He loves…Amin. My condolences too to the souls who perished in the recent upheavals at Bukit Antarabangsa. Al Fatihah…