When I was a very young man, I was invited to dine at the house of philanthropist. After a wonderful dinner, our hostess took us to a large drawing room. Chairs were being arranged. "I'm arranging the chairsfor a concert", my hostess said,"We're going to listen to a very good pianist."
Though everyone else was very happy, I was not. Idid not understand classical music. I thought I was tone-deaf. Isat 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.
After a while, I heard everyone clapping, so I realised that the piece was over. Just then I heard a gentle, but firm voice sayong, "You're fond of Bach?"
I knews 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 into order to look at my neighbour and I saw a very famous face. It was someone with her socks of white hair and pipe.
I knew that I must tell this man the truth. He looked at me as if my answer was very important.
" I do not know anything about 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.
" You will come 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 he asked,"What kind of music do you like?"
"Well," I answered, " I like song that have words, and kind of music where I can follow the tune. "
Ismail 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.
"Now, can you please tell me what you just heard?", he said.
The simplest answer seemed to be to seeing the lines. So I sang it back to him.
He smiled."You're not tone-deaf," he said.
I told him this was one of my favourite songs, something I had her hundreds of times, so I didn't really proof anything.
" Nonsense!" said Einstein. " It Cruise everything! Do you remember your first arithmetic lesson in school? Suppose, at you are 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."
" 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 orderd.
And we went on from level to higher level until he was playing just music without words. I was amazed that these great man was playing complete attention to me so that I could learn something new. It was as if I was the most important person in this world. Suddenly, he got up and turned of the gramophone.
" Now young man, " he said "We're ready to listen theBach."
We went down and set in the hall." just allow yourself to listen ", he said,"that's all there is to it."
I have heard that piece many time 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 concerned and dead, I too was able to clap - sincerely. our hostess came towards us. we both stood up.
"I'm so sorry, Dr Einstein ", she said," my young friend yaar and I, however, were engaged in the greatest activity of which a human being is capable. "
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."