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the following day we glimpsed stonehenge on our drive back to heathrow...ready for some sun
next stop - rockin’ the rainbow spirit festival with some good friends
so much magnificence flew to the heavens...that's mariam on stage with us, in the blue shirt, festival director come up to celebrate with us.
cornelia flatischler, co-founder of the TA KI TI NA process joined us
along with her partner sabine bundschu
and of course, peter makena
who could ask for more?
they began building wells cathedral in 1108.
it stands as an imposing monument to christianity’s dominance and overwhelming grandeur.
it’s huge, stark and chilly...and breathtaking.
wells is a small town, which makes the cathedral’s size even more dramatic.
fortunately the people came..
and their love, their voices and their celebration, warmed it up!
here’s a review of the concert
sudha, tarisha and surabhi opened the evening with some beautiful ethereal chanting
osho smiled from the stony dressing room...
...beneath stunning architecture
...stands the oldest clock in europe
and a stairway to a secret temple
manose flew in for the concert (without his broomstick)
with thanks to marianne sutin for sending the complete pic!
Hi friends, Deva here – for a change!
usually I just enjoy the great blog entries Miten puts up and they are so complete that there is nothing for me to add. But I have been feeling to share these few pictures with you that we have been getting from our little friends.
Young kids – who love our music and who came to concerts and gifted us with paintings.... There are many more (usually they don’t come as eMails but as the original on paper), but here are two that came through the eMail recently and so I wanted to share them with you:
This is from Jasminka who lives in Slovakia..she came with her mother Zuna to the concert in Prague and got inspired to paint us three on stage (note the details.....even the laptop next to my keyboard, the om signs on the banners etc...) Great, Jasminka!
And this is from Isabelle from Hamburg. Thank you, Isabelle!
And here is our little friend Lilly who is enjoying playing “concert”....you can’t hear the soundtrack...it’s AAD GURAY!
and here’s Bennett, a budding Kirtan wallah if ever we saw one - (Miten calls him ‘Bindhu) - singing So Much Magnificence with us in the Cologne workshop!
..phew...so there was still more to come in london – a visit to the special yoga centre
and a great workshop at the mind body spirit festival.
and finally, if you’re interested in seeing deva and myself being interviewed by clare soloway (poonam) on a website called ‘conscious tv’ click here and go to 'life stories'
and this is very nice
love!
miten
so much love in london
on the left is one of my best friends, vikas, a fine singer and piano player – one of my ‘music brothers’ from the commune days.
next to him is nijesh, who is/was and probably always will be, a really nice guitar player.
nijesh was famous for (among other things) tuning my guitar in the middle of a song while i continued to sing...and next to me is my godson tom – who has the potential to be a good drummer but...well, you know how it is when you’re growing up – he’d rather be an accountant right now (where did we go wrong!!).
so, we’re all going with the flow, but i made him promise not to stop playing his drums, because he has a natural feel for music, like his dad (vikas) and talking from experience, music will get you through life a lot smoother than counting money ever will.
behind us is jyoti, tom’s mum and vikas’s wife.
sudha - some of you will know from her recordings with maneesh de moor – is a mum now.
here she is with sol, her little girl.
we’re actually singing ‘sunrise’ to her just before going on stage...she really took it in, every note, and even did her best to join in with us...she is obviously set for a life of music.
if you don’t know sudha’s music, check her here. she’s a great singer.
and here’s nagara and navajata.
nagara is also know as john leckie – he’s an up-and-coming record producer in the world of english rock music (so far he’s only worked with john lennon, pink floyd, stone roses, radiohead, dr.john, baba maal -and a few more! - so you can see he obviously has some potential!).
we got to become the best of friends during our commune days.
...along with ravi, who joined us for lunch and on stage at the union chapel.
check ravi here. he plays the west african harp (kora) and, among his many talents, an amazing overtone singer in the tradition of the mongolian throat singers and a writer of great songs.
c) – it was an honour to be part of the uk ‘mind, body spirit festival’ - we were booked to play at the union chapel, one of londons best venues and one of our favourites.
sound check – the chapel still serves as a place of worship, but doubles as a music venue at night...
the guy you see in the pews is my nephew, paul.
paul is a really good writer and is also responsible for getting these blogs up on the site.
without him there would be no blog - so - thanks paul!
the church became a lighthouse for the evening...a magical gathering, as our voices filled the air.
and d) - because i get to see some of my oldest and dearest friends...(here’s richard and janet...richard was my first musical partner back in the 60’s)...
...and one of their grandchildren, lauren...a big deva fan!
gulab and champak – my spiritually adopted sons from the commune days – i used to tuck these guys up in bed when they were 8 years old! they won’t admit it now, though...
as usual, manose found time to make a few new friends...
we shared our love for rafia with stories and anecdotes, which were full of laughter and tears...deep sharings on how honoured we all feel to have him in our lives.
it was a bit overwhelming for the recipient, but if any one could handle it, the love dawg could – and did - with grace, humour, and of course, tears!
walk on rafia...!
if you’re wondering how rafia became the ‘love dawg’ check this rumi poem below.
those of you who know him from our holiday groups will remember his readings of hafiz and rumi during morning satsang.
when he came out with this one, we both immediately recognised ourselves as the love dogs we are...
you can draw your own conclusions on that one.
here’s the poem:
One night a man was crying, “Allah, Allah”
His lips grew sweet with the praising.
Until a cynic said, “I have heard you calling out, but have you ever gotten any response?”
The man had no answer for that.
He quit praying, and fell into a confused sleep.
He dreamed he saw Kidhr, the guide for the souls,
in thick, green foliage.
“Why did you stop praising?”
“Because I have never heard anything back”
“This longing you express is the returned message.
The grief you cry out from draws you towards union.
Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.
Listen to the moan of the dog for its master.
That whining is the connection.
There are love dogs that no one knows the name of.
Give your life to be one of them”.
Rumi
and of course, there was a song or two – i knocked up a little song in his honour, called 'the love dog blues'...
“he walks into the room / shakes his long shaggy tail / menfolk stop and stare / and the women begin to wail / they say ‘it’s the love dawg!’/ that ol’ love dawg’s come sniffin’ around / better lock up your daughters mister / the love dawg’s back in town.’
etc etc...!
b) - because we were there in time to celebrate the 60th birthday of our dear friend, rafia.
...a sweet day to remember.
friends came from all over the world to be with him – here he is with turiya – these two inspired people founded of the ‘path of love’ process
if your life needs a kick start, look no further – click on the link and sign up NOW!
surrounded by his friends...what a great way to hit 60
here’s rafia, with his beloved margriet, who was instrumental in making the whole thing happen.
thank you margriet – it was much, much more than a birthday party...
london - still special to me, for many reasons.
a) - because my family are londoners and all my formative years were spent here, so even though it's been 30 years since i lived here, i still feel an immediate familiarity to the city.
camden town, my old stompin’ ground in the 70’s, still going strong...
...more tourists now...
...and still crazy after all these years
...some of the charm remains...
fashions come and go...
a few shots of this mysterious old city and its people
next stop london
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