YOU'RE most likely to "bump into" the sound of his bagpipes and copper-glazed bells (chanove) or to see the constant hip-hopping white kerchief in the park just opposite Sofia University, or in the one near the National Palace of Culture.

He has many names: the man with the bagpipes, the man with the chanove, Peter Bonev. To his fans he's just Peter. But who is Peter Bonev? The answer is simple: "I'm a man whose music can summon together a croupier and a colonel from the Bulgarian army."`

Actually he's a lot more than that. He has spent the past 15 years playing authentic Bulgarian folk music. Almost every day, regardless of the weather conditions, 10 hours a day he provides a soundtrack to the Bulgarian transitional period, trying to offer the passersby some intransient soul food, in the form of original Bulgarian folklore.

Bonev communicates directly with his audience. There are no boundaries between them, not just because his stage is the street. He's as open to the music as to the people. To tell you the truth, I cannot imagine him "locked" in a concert hall. The indoor space would be too limited for the infinite enthusiasm and devotion of his performance.

Bonev reminds me of those gurus who can somehow make a snake dance to the music. He possesses the same charisma. The only difference is he puts a spell on people - those who not just listen, but are ready to hear the tales that Bulgarian folklore tells.

The music enchants him as well. It gives him power. Wherever you see him playing, you'll feel every move he makes; every sound of his bagpipes shows he owns the place. "My music gives me the right to be a sultan; a sultan of a small garden, but a sultan. With my bagpipes I can stop whoever I want to stop," says Bonev.

Of course, some take him for a beggar. That's true, as his friend, the colonel, says, he is a beggar for culture. In the pose of an artist, Bonev gives his own answer, paraphrasing the famous words of the Bulgarian writer Hristo Smirnenski: "I'm a beggar and all the beggars are my brothers... I'm a prince and all the princes are my brothers."

Peter has travelled a lot. Oslo, Florence, Rome, Milan, London, Vienna and Delhi have all heard the traditional folk songs played on Bonev's pipes. But travelling around the world has made him understand one thing: "I want to play Bulgarian folk music in Bulgaria."

Maybe it's surprising for some, but Bonev is also a family man. He has a very beautiful wife and three-year-old "ninja". The day I talked with him I found only one lev and 44 stotinki in his handkerchief, near the CD of his music. He just shrugged his shoulders and said: "That's all I got today, for more than eight hours playing." Despite this fact he claims Bulgarians are generous.

 "It's not like that every day. Sometimes people buy several CDs and he comes back home with a decent amount of money," explained his wife Borislava, seeing my astonishment. "But most of his salary he earns during the summer at the seaside."

Rewinding to the time when she met him, Borislava remembers how she fell in love with him: "It happened here - the park opposite Sofia University. I was sitting on a bench, he came closer and started talking to me.  The minute I agreed to see him later the same day I knew something would happen." And this "something" has continued for 10 years now.

A husband, a father, a teacher, a philosopher, sometimes a bit crazy - Peter Bonev has many faces. But he is always over 100 per cent Bulgarian.