Clasped hands and soft whispers

(A poem I wrote 8-9 years back...)

The clasped hands,
Don't know what they mean to you;
But to me they mean a lot, the clasped hands,
Which mean the freedom to dream!  1

Your closed-lips on mine,
Don't know what they mean to you;
To me those lips are things foreign;
Whose taste I have never dreamed I could dream!  2

And the soft bite of mine on your cheeks;
Don't know what they mean to you;
For me its all the luck I can hold fast to;
In a particularly unlucky life, that means a lot you see!!  3

That sweet body odour from your clothes,
Don't know what it means to you
For me its the aroma of dream and hope,
Which I am getting the glimpse of after such a long time. 4

Those soft whispers saying "I love you"
Don't know what they mean to you;
For me they are eternal songs of life and panacea!
Which I have longed for ever but got just now!!   5

Soft kisses and soft whispers,
Making a soft moment make hard marks
For my life which was dull and damp;
Credit goes to you my love;
Don't care if you will be there "for ever" for me or not;
Don't care if you will be "all mine" or not;
What I got from you in moments, worth life times;
Will last a life time;
Clasped hands and soft whispers....!!   6

Seal's eyes

(The story I narrate below was told to me by my friend Naadir. Naadir had the opportunity to be a part of the South African Antarctica  mission. And he met this guy, whom we shall call Pieter, in the voyage. I shall narrate the story in first person (But its actually Naadir's story) and I shall add some made-up details.)

It was my providence that I was selected to be a part of the small team of scientists and engineers which went in the South African Antarctica mission in December 2017. Over the long voyage I had the opportunity to get acquaintances with  Pieter. Pieter was in his late 50s and was a wild-life expert. His passion for his work was infectious. He loved animals and he loved whatever little he could do for them. I had great respect for almost all the members of the team, each of whom was an expert in his/her domain. But Pieter was exceptional in his love for animals. I assumed that he must have had this love and craze for wildlife from his childhood days. And may be thats why he chose to study zoology and then might have chosen this career. Over the next two months I came to know the real story about him.

Around 30 years back Pieter was a young man and very skilful at handling wildlife. Those were the old-times! And by some links he got his first contract. The contract was to smuggle a zebra calf for a rich person in Europe. Then started his career as a wildlife smuggler. Animals were his merchandise and getting them safe to the customers skipping the customs was his skill. One such time he had to smuggle few seal cubs to the UK. Seal cubs wont survive without their mother's milk. So Pieter had to bottle feed them. While travelling in the ship, one eventful evening, he was bottle-feeding a cub. He was looking at its eyes. And suddenly he had a feeling that what he was doing was not right. In one split-second his mind filled with nauseating pain for all that he had been doing. He returned back to South Africa with the cubs; and started working as a volunteer to conserve seals. Somehow he was discovered by an environmentalist who tried to talk to senior officials and got him a job in the environment department. His skills were still there with him and now could be used for a positive cause. Since then he has been working tirelessly for the conservation of wild animals.

It was a story which can bring tears; a story to rejoice; a story to celebrate the angel in each of us; and a story to feel positive about.