Train of thought

Realising that blogging could never be as fun as it has been over the last few days with all the taporigiri in the comments space, I had made fultu plans of retiring from blogsphere in the Bhai-type glory of that post, lekin kismat aur Ipanema Girl ko yeh manzoor nahin tha. :|

So there's this guy I see every morning at the train station on my way to work.

This dude:

- boards the train at the same station as me
- takes the same train as me
- gets off at the same station (which is all the way in the east) as me
- crosses the same overhead bridge as me
- goes to the same bus stop as me
- and even takes the same bus as me to go to work!

(No, he's not a colleague of mine. I am not that crazy. Actually I am, but that's a different story.)

We're past the phase of first conversation or even a 'We take the same train and bus' acknowledgement smile. Which is why it's kinda weird to be around each other every single morning for more than an hour and not say a word. I'm sure he shares my sentiments.

Of course, I could take an earlier train or a later train and end the whole drama. But I can't. There's more to it, you see.

He and I both know the secret to the 7:15 train.

Every morning, at exactly 7:15 am, an unannounced train pulls into Clementi station, without a single person inside!!!!!! :O :O :O

Why is that so strange, you ask? Well, because empty trains don't just happen to Clementi like that. Clementi is probably one of the most crowded stations ever and they can make a full 'Survivor' episode just about getting on a train at Clementi.

I still remember how I discovered this train. Once, just as I reached the station, I saw a train whose doors were just closing, but surprisingly, not everyone on the platform was rushing to get in. There were a few folks, including this dude, who were just standing there, staring at the train. The train pulled away, and yet all these people calmly stood there. I was really surprised. Usually people would dash for the train the minute the doors open, irrespective of whether it's going in the direction they want to go or not.

I looked at the train arrival board and it said 'Next train 5 minutes'. I was all set to wait 5 minutes when I did a double take. A train was pulling into the station. Weird. The board now said 'Next train 4 minutes.' Maybe it was one of those 'unboardables' whose doors don't open, and it moves on without taking in any people.

But I was wrong. The doors opened. People dashed. I dashed. The doors closed. The train moved.

This train was completely unannounced!

Maybe it's a mistake, I thought. A glitch in the otherwise very orderly matrix known as Singapore. But I noted that it happened every single day. It was indeed a regular phenomenon that few people knew about.

I told a friend about it and even dragged him to the station one morning to show him 'the phenomenon' as I called it.

He said with a straight face, "Achha. Must be a train from the shed."

"From the what??"

"Shed. Must be a train from the Clementi shed. It begins its journey at Clementi. That's why it's empty."

Huh? Shed?? That's it? A train from the shed? Every morning, at the same time?! Completely unannounced, completely empty?!

A train from the shed??!!

That's all you can come up with? How boring. Damn you computer engineers. Not an ounce of creativity! Wait, I'll give you the true explanation in a minute.

Remember Andaz Apna Apna where one of the most memorable characters Gogo ji says, "Mogambo ka bhateeja hoon, aaya hoon toh kuchh lekar hi jaunga."?

Well, Sayesha says, "Bollywood ki rani hoon, aayi hoon toh kuchh drama toh hona hi chahiye."

How about this?

The train that pulls in every morning at 7:15 am into Clementi station is not actually empty.

:O