Maharashtra State Board Class 10 English Lesson The Night I Met Einstein Summary, Line by Line Explanation, along with difficult word meanings from English Kumarbharati Book
The Night I Met Einstein – Are you looking for Theme, Summary and Lesson Explanation for Maharashtra State Board Class 10 Chapter The Night I Met Einstein from English Kumarbharati Book. Get Chapter Summary, Theme, Explanation along with difficult word meanings.
The Night I Met Einstein Maharashtra State Board Class 10 English
Jerome Weidman
- The Night I Met Einstein Introduction
- Theme of the Lesson The Night I Met Einstein
- The Night I Met Einstein Summary
- The Night I Met Einstein Summary in Hindi
- The Night I Met Einstein Lesson Explanation
The Night I Met Einstein Introduction
The story is about a young man who is invited to a dinner party. He is afraid of the classical music performance afterwards because he doesn’t understand music. An unexpected encounter with a famous scientist changes his views on music. Einstein teaches the young man to understand and appreciate music.
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Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson The Night I Met Einstein
The themes explored in the story are-
- Learning is a Journey: The encounter with Einstein highlights that learning is a gradual process. Just like mastering Math requires starting with basic concepts, appreciating music takes time and exposure.
- The Power of Great Teachers/Mentors: Einstein’s patient and encouraging approach helps the narrator develop his musical appreciation. This showcases the impact a good teacher can have on a student’s learning journey.
- There’s No Shame in Not Knowing: The story encourages honesty about one not knowing everything. The narrator admits he doesn’t understand Bach, and Einstein doesn’t judge him for it.
The Night I Met Einstein Summary
The story is about the author, Jerome Weidman, a young man who doesn’t understand classical music. At a dinner party, a famous scientist, Albert Einstein sits next to him. When Einstein talks to him about music, the young man admits he doesn’t understand it and thinks he’s tone-deaf.
Einstein then takes the young man to another room and plays different types of music for him, starting with songs with words. The young man can follow these and sing along. Einstein then plays music with no lyrics. Einstein explains that learning music is like learning math – you start with the basics and build up.
After listening to different pieces, Einstein takes the young man back to the concert. This time, the young man can actually appreciate the music and claps at the end. The hostess scolds the author for not letting Dr. Einstein attend the performance, but Einstein says they were doing something important – learning and appreciating beauty.
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The Night I Met Einstein Summary in Hindi
कहानी जेरोम वीडमैन, लेखक के बारे में है, जो एक युवक है जिसे शास्त्रीय संगीत की समझ नहीं है। एक डिनर पार्टी में, एक प्रसिद्ध वैज्ञानिक, अल्बर्ट आइंस्टीन उसके बगल में बैठते हैं। जब आइंस्टीन उनसे संगीत के बारे में बात करते हैं, तो युवक बताता है कि वह संगीत की समझ नहीं रखता।
आइंस्टीन फिर युवक को दूसरे कमरे में ले जाते हैं और शब्दों वाले गीतों से शुरू करते हुए विभिन्न प्रकार का संगीत बजाते हैं। युवक इनका अनुसरण कर सकते हैं और साथ गा सकते हैं। इसके बाद आइंस्टीन बिना गीत वाला संगीत बजाते हैं। आइंस्टीन बताते हैं कि संगीत सीखना गणित सीखने जैसा है – आप मूल बातों से शुरू करते हैं और फिर ऊपर चढ़ते हो।
कुछ अंश सुनने के बाद, आइंस्टीन युवक को वापस संगीत कार्यक्रम हॉल में ले जाते हैं। इस बार, युवक वास्तव में संगीत की सराहना कर सकते हैं और अंत में ताली बजाते हैं। मेजबान डॉ. आइंस्टीन को प्रदर्शन में शामिल न होने देने के लिए लेखक को आंखे दिखाती है, लेकिन आइंस्टीन का कहना है कि वे कुछ महत्वपूर्ण कर रहे थे – सुंदरता को सीखना और उसकी सराहना करना।
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The Night I Met Einstein Lesson Explanation
Passage: When I was a very young man, I was invited to dine at the house of a philanthropist. After a wonderful dinner, our hostess took us to a large drawing room. Chairs were being arranged. “I’m arranging the chairs for a concert”, my hostess said, “We’re going to listen to a very good pianist.”
Explanation: When Jerome Weidman, the author, was young, he was invited to a fancy dinner at a kind person’s house. After dinner, the lady who invited him led the author to a big room where chairs were being arranged. She said she was setting up the chairs for a concert by a very talented piano player.
Passage: Though everyone else was very happy, I was not. I did not understand classical music. I thought I was tone-deaf. I sat down so that I would not be impolite and waited for the concert to begin. I did not pay attention to the music after it began.
Explanation: The writer, Jerome Weidman, is at a concert where everyone else seems to be enjoying the classical music. But Jerome isn’t happy because he doesn’t understand it. He worries he might be tone-deaf, which means he can’t tell the difference between different pitches in music. So, he politely sits there but doesn’t really listen to the concert.
Passage: After a while, I heard everyone clapping, so I realised that the piece was over. Just then I heard a gentle, but firm voice saying, “You’re fond of Bach?”
Word Meaning:
Piece: here, musical performance
Explanation: The author realized the piece (musical performance) was over because of the clapping. He wasn’t paying much attention to the concert. Then, someone spoke to the author in a soft but clear voice, asking if the author liked Bach (a famous composer).
Passage: I knew as much about Bach as I did about nuclear physics. I was going to say something ordinary so that I could get out of the situation. I turned in order to look at my neighbour and I saw a very famous face. It was someone with a shock of white hair and a pipe.
Word Meaning
shock of white hair: This refers to a large or thick mass of white hair.
Here, “shock of white hair” describes the appearance of Einstein’s hair.
Explanation: The author didn’t know anything about Bach. He wanted to politely leave the conversation, so he planned to say something boring. He turned around to see who he was talking to, and saw a very famous person. The person had white hair and smoked a pipe.
Passage: I knew that I must tell this man the truth. He looked at me as if my answer was very important.
Explanation: The author felt that he must tell that person the truth about not knowing Bach. The famous person looked at the author as if the author’s answer was of much importance.
Passage: “I do not know anything about Bach”, I said, “I have never heard any of his music.”
He looked surprised. “You have never heard of Bach?” he asked. He made it sound as if I had said that I had never taken a bath!
“I’d like to understand music so that I could understand Bach,” I said, “but I’m not able to. I’m tone-deaf.”
The old man got up.
Explanation: The author told the old man that he didn’t know anything about Bach, a famous musician, and had never listened to his music. The old man was really surprised, like the author had said something strange, almost as unbelievable as not having taken a bath that day.
The author explained he wanted to appreciate music, especially Bach’s, but he struggled because he couldn’t tell the difference between good and bad tones (tone-deaf). The old man seemed interested and even stood up after hearing this.
Passage: “You will come up with me?” he asked. I just remained seated. “I’m requesting you to come with me”, he said again.
So I went up with him. He took me to a room which had a gramophone in it and asked, “What kind of music do you like?”
Explanation: The old man asked the author if he wanted to join the old man for something, but the author didn’t answer right away. The old man then phrased it more politely as a request, and then the author decided to follow him. The old man brought the author to a room with a gramophone and wanted to know what kind of music he liked.
Passage: “Well,” I answered, “I like songs that have words, and the kind of music where I can follow the tune.”
He smiled and nodded, obviously pleased. “You can give me an example, perhaps?”
I told him I like anything by Bing Crosby. At once, I could hear Bing Crosby’s voice filling the room.
Explanation: The author replied that he liked music that had words and is easy to understand and sing along with. The old person liked this answer and asked for an example. The speaker said that he enjoys music by Bing Crosby. And like a magical happening, music by Bing Crosby starts playing.
Passage: “Now, can you please tell me what you just heard?”, he said.
The simplest answer seemed to be to sing the lines.
So I sang it back to him.
He smiled. “You’re not tone-deaf,” he said.
Explanation: The old man asked the author to repeat what he just heard. The author wasn’t sure what to do, but thought that singing it might be the easiest way to repeat it. The old man was happy to hear it and said the author knew high and low notes of music.
Passage: I told him this was one of my favourite songs, something I had heard hundreds of times, so it didn’t really prove anything.
Word Meaning
Explanation: The author told the old man that the song he had just sung was one of his favourite songs and that he had heard the same song over a hundred times. Hence, it didn’t prove if he (the author) was or was not really tone-deaf.
Passage: “Nonsense !” said Einstein. “It proves everything! Do you remember your first arithmetic lesson in school? Suppose, at your very first contact with numbers, your teacher had ordered you to work out a problem in, say, long division or fractions. Could you have done it?”
“No, of course not.”
Explanation: Einstein disagreed and said that this situation proved his point perfectly. He then asked the author if he remembered his first Math lesson in school. Einstein asked the author to imagine a scenario where the teacher introduced a difficult concept like long division or fractions in the first lesson itself. Einstein indirectly stated that the author would not have been able to solve the math problem because he hadn’t learned even the basics yet.
Passage: “Exactly! It’s like learning maths. You have to learn addition and subtraction in order to do multiplication and division. Now I’m playing something a little more advanced.” It was John McCormack singing The Trumpeter. “Sing that back”, he ordered.
Explanation: Einstein explained that learning music is similar to learning math. One needs to understand the basics, like addition and subtraction, before one can tackle more complex operations like multiplication and division. Einstein then said that he was now going to play something more difficult, and it turned out to be John McCormack singing a song called “The Trumpeter.”
Einstein then demanded that the author sing it back.
Passage: And we went on from level to higher level until he was playing just music without words. I was amazed that this great man was paying complete attention to me so that I could learn something new. It was as if I was the most important person in his world. Suddenly, he got up and turned off the gramophone.
Explanation: The author and Einstein listened to music together, starting with simpler pieces and then moving on to more complex ones where it was just tunes and no lyrics. The author was surprised that such a great man was so patient and willing to help him learn. It felt like the author was the only person who mattered to Einstein at that moment. Then, all of a sudden, the music stopped.
Passage: “Now young man”, he said, “We’re ready to listen to Bach.” We went down and sat in the hall. “Just allow yourself to listen”, he said, “that’s all there is to it.”
Explanation: The old man (Einstein) told the author that it was time to listen to Bach’s music. They then went downstairs and sat in the concert hall. The old man reminded the author to simply relax and focus on the music, that’s all that was needed to be done.
Passage: I have heard that piece many times since that day. But I am never alone. I am sitting beside a small man with a shock of untidy hair and a pipe in his mouth. He has eyes that are unusually warm. When the concert ended, I too was able to clap-sincerely. Our hostess came towards us. We both stood up.
Explanation: The author said that he had heard that piece of music many times since that day but he never felt alone. The author felt as if he were sitting next to a short man with messy hair who was smoking a pipe. The old man had very kind eyes. He is referring to Einstein.
When the concert ended, the author could finally clap for real, and he meant it which indicates that this time he had enjoyed it. Then, the lady who had invited the author to the concert came over. Einstein and the author, both got up to greet her.
Passage: “I’m so sorry, Dr Einstein”, she said, giving me a cold look, “that you missed so much.”
“I’m sorry too”, he said, “My young friend here and I, however, were engaged in the greatest activity of which a human being is capable.”
Explanation: The lady apologized to Dr. Einstein, and said it was unfortunate he missed so much. While apologising to Dr. Einstein, the lady, gave the author an unfriendly look.
Dr. Einstein apologized too, but explained that he and his young friend (the author) had been busy doing something amazing, the best thing that humans could do.
Passage: She looked puzzled. “Really?” she said. “And what is that?”
Einstein smiled and put his arm across my shoulders. “Opening up the frontiers of beauty.”
Word Meaning
Frontiers: The outer limits of something; horizons.
Explanation: The woman didn’t seem to understand. She wanted to know what it was exactly that was so important. Einstein smiled and responded by saying that they had been discovering new and wonderful things.