Oddoneout’s Adventures!

And so Jin (me) was in transit one day and decided that hey, it’s about time I put away my earphones and pull myself back into the real world. For a few moments hence, I remembered why I put them on in the first place.

With an effort that rivaled the Labours of Hercules, I forced every fibre in my body to refrain from plugging myself back into the rhythmic realm of Led Zeppelin, Saigon Kick, Foo Fighters and every other son of rock and roll.

I began to look around, and it occurred to me then that the MRT is perhaps one of the best places to people watch. A café is static, and it only attracts a certain demographic of people. Trains on the other hand, don’t discriminate. All sorts of people commute with it and it’s constantly moving, with a fresh influx of commuters at every stop.

Being in transit is like being in limbo. There’s not much to do during the time in between from when you got on and when you get off, but sit or stand quietly – if you’re on your own – and reflect. Often, a lonesome traveler’s thoughts are reflected on his face.

I took out my camera and snapped off a couple of shots of this smorgasbord of emotions around me.

I was intending to delete the last image from collection of photos on the grounds that it was too blur, but upon further inspection, something compelled me to keep it. There was just something about this photo that hung on to me as I looked at it more and more. The quiet sadness in his eyes, the look of resignation on his face and the way he clung on to the divider just seemed to speak of a man in need who is presently just drifting by and marking time. There was this whole air of despondancy about him, and it made me sad thinking about it. Perhaps that was what prevented me from deleting it, that it could stir some emotion in me.

That said, I was quite happy with the family shots. It was a delight to see the pure joy the little boy brought to his parents; a private moment that would have been easily missed if I hadn’t decided to ditch my mp3 player.

Not sure if it’s obvious enough, but in Father and Son, the two of them were playing some network game with each other. Pretty cool way of bonding and bridging the generation gap, I would say.

Anway, next time you take the train, spare a few moments to observe around you and see what stories you could find in others while you’re in transit.