CAHIT'S STORY
In 1997, after playing a gig in Cecil Sharp House, I went down to the bar and heard some familiar music from the smaller hall nearby and I saw Balkan dancing. An Indian man noticed me and my violin and asked what music I played. When I replied 'mainly Turkish' he grabbed his darbuka, led me into a side room and got me to play some folk tunes with him providing the rhythm, clearly very much at home with this type of music. It was Narendra Kotiyan, and he was there with Dunav. He invited me to play for a few minutes before the second half began, and it was well received. I stayed till the end, when they asked me to come to Dunav rehearsals, and the rest is history!