Denise Dobson I met Devapriya at his home in the year 1999. I had been invited over to "The Hermitage" as I had been asked to join NLBC band 'Shanti' as an egg shaker and backing vocalist. (Devapriya is a dab hand on the tablas for those of you who didn't know!). This was the first of many, many evenings of Shanti magic over the next 5 years. and so it would be true to say that some of my most beautiful and soulful experiences were shared with Devapriya, Appicha and Manjudeva. Devapriya particularly likes a song that I wrote called "Stone' and he always asks me to choose it when we are coming up with lists of songs to sing at gigs. Tell me something Tell me something I don't already know Tell me what’s new about this... There's still no blood coming out of this stone. It’s not yet fully seen I can't make sense of the shapes staring at me What do they mean? I can't make sense of this strange reality Sitting here with myself again, nowhere to run and hide. Tell me who will I be If I dance in this shadowland, what will I see? I'm scared of the dark I'll keep alight a fire in my heart" Every time I visit The Hermitage, I can be assured of a warm welcome, good company, food and drink. Devapriya's first question is always "How's Tara?" (my daughter) which touches me every time.
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