LOVABLE NAMES

I don't know if anyone else cares for names. But I do. There are some names which sound great, regardless of whether they mean anything good or not. Names of persons, places and roads ought to sound good, I believe. There are a No. of names which I like. Some of the names of persons either sound good or unique and they stick in mind forever. Read the following names of persons:

(a) Adam Piper

(b) Chuck Berry

(c) Cliff Richard

(d) Cynthia Lennon

(e) Catherine Mary Hellman

(f) Daniel Patrick Moynihan

(g) Hugo Junkers

(h) Ivo Andrick

(j) Johnny Gentle

(k) Kenneth Anderson

(l) Keath Adams

(m) Martin Winters

(n) Silas Marner

(o) Abba Eben

(p) Allan Williams

(q) Arthur Bremer

(r) Rosalyn Fairbank

(s) Kathy Rinaldi

(t) Ira Levin

(u) Jenny Crowther

(v) John Schrank

(w) Kathy Jordan

(x) Uzzi Narkiss

(y) Walter Cannon

(z) After Martial

(aa) McDonnell Douglas

(ab) Jonathan Canter

(ac) Frank Camper

(ad) Gazala Amin

(ae) Max Shapiro

(af) Frank Bruno

(ag) Vernon Walters

(ah) Chuck Adams

(aj) Samara

(ak) Zara
(al) Nicki Minaj

And now a few names of places:

(a) Aqaba

(b) Gaza Strip

(c) Kfar Saba

(d) Bir Gafgafa

(e) Wadi Wadi

(f) Bani Walid

(g) Lebanon

(h) Jordan

(j) Bras Basa (Singapore)

(k) Tilok Balanga (Singapore)

(l) Selamat Jalan (jalan in Malay means 'road')

These are just a few of those names which are different from the crowd. And when a name sounds great, you look forward to seeing that person or visiting that place just to see if the possessor of the name actually lives up to the name!

UNIQUE SONGS

All over the world there are millions of songs in hundreds of languages. Generally songs depict feelings of love, separation, joy, grief, patriotism and many other human emotions. Most of the love songs are centred around meeting and separation. There are songs which advocate peace but at the same time there are songs which encourage violence. Bad.

Anyway, I know of a song which is unique in the sense that it talks of putting the love through the stingiest test. Two lovers discuss how best to test their love and find out whether their love is actually deep and long lasting or just a superficial one. It is a Pakistani song from the film 'Tarana'. The lyrics are:

"Hum ek doosre se khafa hoke dekhen,

Bahut mil chuke ab juda hoke dekhen,

(Let's be in a state of non communication for a while;

we have had enough intimacy; now let's stay away from each other for some time)

Dil-o-jaan pe kya tootati hai qayamat,

Zara dard se aashnaan ho ke dekhen,

(We must acquaint ourselves with the pain of separation and see what befalls upon us)

Haqeeqat ko jhootha fasaana banayen,

Bichhudne ka yoon hi bahaana banayen,

Bichhud ke jo ek doosre se milenge,

Kanwal arzoon ke dil mein khilenge,

Wafaon pe humko bharosa hai lekin,

Zara der to bewafa ho ke dekhen,

(We must see the reality as a fabricated story and find an excuse to distance from each other. Flowers will bloom in our hearts when we meet after a long separation. Although we have faith in our loyalties, still let us be indifferent to each other for some time)

Bahut rang dekha hai humne milan ka,

Maza chakh ke dekhen birha ki agan ka,

Agar door rah kar badi beqaraari,

To samjhenge sachchi hai chaahat hamari,

Bhula den ke hum mein hai koi ta'alluq,

Gham-e-ashiqui se riha ho ke dekhen,

(We have been through many colours of love, we must now pass through the fire test of parting. If separation causes restlessness, we would know that our love is true. Let us forget that we have any relation between us, let us get rid of pain of love for now)

Hum ek doosre se khafa hoke dekhen,

Bahut mil chuke ab juda hoke dekhen,

(Let's be in a state of non communication for a while;

we have had enough intimacy; now let's stay away from each other for some time)

Dil-o-jaan pe kya tootati hai qayamat,

Zara dard se aashnaan ho ke dekhen"

(We must acquaint ourselves with the pain of separation and see what befalls upon us)

Wouldn't you like to listen to this beautiful and 'stand alone' song? Then just click Hum ek doosre se khafa ho ke dekhen.

I find this song unique and totally different from all other songs. Lovers always long to meet, they don't talk of separation or of putting their love through any test, whatever that may mean. But here we have two people, deeply in love who plan to deliberately cause pain to themselves so that their love can be validated.

I also find Boney M group of 70s different from all other bands. They have almost always composed and sung real life stories in a very distinctive tone. It is a treat to listen to their popular Nos. such as Rasputin, He Was a Steppen Wolf, By the Rivers of Babylon, Ma Baker and Belfast. They sang real time stories and they sang them not only well but also performed equally well on stage.

I am a lover of songs, but good meaningful songs whether they are English, Urdu, Punjabi or Hindi. Long live music!

RASPUTIN - THE HEALING LOVER!

 "There lived a certain man in Russia long ago,
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow,
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear,
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear,
He could preach the Bible like a preacher,
Full of ecstasy and fire,
But he also was the kind of teacher,
Women would desire."

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin has perhaps been the best known Siberian to date. Born on 10 Jan 1869 at Pokrovskoye, Siberia, he remained an illiterate despite having attended some school but did manage to don the mantle of a mystic. He entered a monastery but decided against becoming a monk and instead married Proskovia Fyodorovna at the tender age of 19 and produced three children from her. He also had a fourth child from another woman.

Rasputin was restless and his destiny had bigger things in store for him. He left his home and travelled to many places including Greece and the Middle East. He claimed to have holy healing powers and to an extent he did have those. While in St Petersburg, he was taken by a bishop to the then Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna. The Tsar had a son, the only son rather, Alexis, who suffered from haemophilia (a disease in which blood does not clot if a wound takes place, resulting in possible death of the patient). Miraculously, in 1908 when Alexis was gravely ill, bleeding was stopped by Rasputin. He did something which no one before him had been able to do. He instantly became dear to the royal couple and was therafter a regular sight in the palace.

In 1915, Nicholas II assumed the command of the Russian Army and fought on the Eastern Front, leaving domestic affairs to his spouse to manage. Tsarina Alexandra sacked her old faithful ministers one by one and paid heed to only Rasputin's advice in matter personal as well as state affairs. As far as the Tsarina was concerned, Rasputin was the man sent by God in answer to her fervent prayers to save her only son. However, it is said that his grip over state affairs was exaggerated as those who differed with Tsar's decisions on important appointments, made him a scapegoat simply because they could not muster enough courage to directly face and challenge the Tsar.

Rasputin was very close to the Tsaritsa's closest friend, Anya Vyrubova. Her devotion to him was absolute, which was reinforced after she had a terrible accident in which the rail she was travelling by, derailed. She survived but what remained of her was just a lump of flesh; her body was crushed and mangled. Rasputin came to her bedside, stood over Anya as she lay there, held her hand, focused his inner energy and pronounced, "Annushka, Annushka, rise!". Anya suddenly awoke from her coma, opened her eyes and tried to rise from her bed. It was a miracle. Rasputin privately told the audience there that although she would live, she would remain a cripple. And so it came to be.

Over a period of time, he made many enemies in church and in palace. He was seen as a "dark force" who was ruining Russia.

"But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger
for power became known to more and more people,
the demands to do something about this outrageous
man became louder and louder."

"This man's just gotta go!" declared his enemies,
But the ladies begged "Don't you try to do it, please",
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms,
Though he was a brute, they just fell into his arms,
Then one night some men of higher standing,
Set a trap, they're not to blame,
"Come to visit us" they kept demanding,
And he really came."

One night in December 1916, Rasputin was invited by Prince Felix Felixovich Yussupov. The excuse was the opportunity for Rasputin to meet Felix's wife, Irina, who was very attractive and was Tsar's niece. He was offered wine laced with poison. He drank it but the poison did not affect him. He was then killed by Felix with three to four shots.

"They put some poison into his wine
Ra Ra Rasputin,

Russia's greatest love machine,
He drank it all and said "I feel fine"
Ra Ra Rasputin,
Lover of the Russian queen,
They didn't quit, they wanted his head
Ra Ra Rasputin,
Russia's greatest love machine,
And so they shot him till he was dead."

Felix always maintained that he had killed Rasputin to save Russia. Certainly, Felix had never shown any patriotic leanings before, so his murder of Rasputin is hard to explain from a political standpoint. There might have been a personal reason for Felix's desire to get rid of him. Besides Felix, who was the mastermind of the plot, the Tsar's first cousin and ward Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romano and a member of the Imperial Duma, Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich, were also involved in Rasputin's killing.

Even today stories abound about this mysterious man who is considered shady by many. Some believe he had true healing powers while some dismiss him as just a manipulator who worked his way around the royalty for his personal gains. 

You may like to see the original performed by Boney M at Rasputin by Boney M.

DANAKIL DEPRESSION: THE HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH

Danakil Depression or Afar Depression or Afar Triangle is a geographical feature in the form of a depression and spans Eritrea and Ethiopia, two East African countries. The Afar Triangle area includes the lowest point on earth – Lake Asal, 509 m below MSL. Also forming part of this depression is Dallol, the hottest place anywhere on earth.

This extremely hot and dry area is actually a part of the Africa's Great Rift Valley. In this seemingly inhospitable area there live the nomadic Afar people who number about 3 million. Their external borders are Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. 

The Afar Depression is a plate tectonic triple junction where the spreading ridges that are forming the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. The floor of the Afar Depression is composed mostly of basaltic lava.

This place used to be part of the Red Sea and has kilometres of salt deposits. In some places the salt deposits are about 5 km thick. Below the salt lake is a substantial source of volcanic heat which causes hot water to rise through layers of salt and anhydrite deposits. Minerals get dissolved and are deposited, near the springs, and form vertical shapes in yellow colour.

The area is extremely dry with annual rainfall average about 4 to 7 inches. Temperatures range from 25 ° C in monsoons to 48 ° C in the dry season.

The author acknowledges the photos shown here as copyright of original creators.