"I loved them and they loved me back"

This is a famous statement from Ustad Alla Rakhha, a maestro Tabla player and the father of ustd. Zakir Hussain. He said this for his tablas, the instruments. He said In Hindi actually

" Maine inse pyar kiya hain, aur inhone mujhse pyar kiya hai". He is saying this for non living pair of tabla. I am a strong believer of an idea that the non living things also have some unknown consciousness. I read in a book about Maharshi Arvind , written by Jyoti Thanki, she wrote about an African saint, he used to called his sleepers to him, and the sleepers used to come to his feet. I haven't seen anything like this with my own eyes but I believe her. I play flute for internal peace and I love it. I love not just playing it but I love the instrument. It's exactly like loving a person. It needs same involvement and dedication. I also find that it gives me back same affection and love, like a person. All the icon musicians become one with their instrument, and I think that is the first condition of love. Becoming one with something, it is only possible if it has consciousness. People said when Ust. Vilayat Khan played sitar, one can't know that where his hands ends and where sitar starts. He became one with his sitar. Ustd. Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and his Swarmandal were one with each other. He used to sleep with it.

It is like pouring life into the stone and say it God. People's faith gave the life to that stone and everybody believe that it has some powers. The faith of an artist gives life to the rigid nonliving instrument. Yes, I believe that Alla Rakhha's tabla surely loved him back.