The
Adventure
By Jayant
Narlikar
Analysis :
This
chapter is an extract from the story ‘The Adventure’. It is the later part of
the story.
It is a science fiction which uses two theories –
Catastrophe Theory and Lack of Determinism in Quantum Theory to explain a set
of events happening in the life of the protagonist, Mr. Gaitonde.
It is the account of a History professor, Mr. Gangadharpant Gaitonde who happens to be transported to another world where history took a different turn after the third Battle of Panipat.
The story narrates small incidents and historical events
and characters that invite the readers to do comparative study of the events
and characters in two different worlds in the same time frame.
The story conveys the message that we can pass into another world which is same yet completely different in terms of history, polity and traditions. As in Physics, there is also a lack of determinism in our life.
First Part of the Story (Earlier Part)
In the earlier part of
the story, Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde was an
eminent historian and a leading public figure in Pune. He was much in demand
for presiding over public functions. He had completed his 999th occasion
for presiding at a function. He had decided that his thousandth lecture on
the stage would be about the consequences of Third battle of Panipat. That occasion was to come two weeks later at a
seminar devoted to the Third Battle of Panipat.
While he was thinking about his lecture and walking home, a truck on the road hit him. He lost consciousness. He was in comma in the hospital for two days. When he regained consciousness, after getting discharged from the hospital, he headed towards his home but could not find his home anywhere. He tried to ask the people who responded that such address and a person with such name don't exist there. He realised that he had been transited to a parallel world. He decided to go to Bombay because his son was working in a British company in Bombay. He went to Pune Railway station and took a train, Jijamata Express to Bombay.
Summary (Later Part)
When Professor
Gangadharpant Gaitonde had decided to visit Bombay to get the answers of his questions,
he took a train to visit Bombay. He got to know that Bombay was still a British
territory while the rest of India was independent. On the journey in a first
class compartment of the Jijamata Express, he sat beside Khan Sahib, who was going to Peshawar from Delhi. Then, he realised that there
had been no partition of India in this parallel world and Britishers still had their colony in Bombay but on friendly terms not as rulers. On the route, the
train stopped only at Lonavala, Karjat and the border town of Sarhad where the
permits were checked. It did not stop at Kalyan but finally terminated at
Victoria Terminus in Bombay. While going through Bombay's suburbs, he observed
that the carriages of the local trains had the British flag painted on them, it indicated that they were passing through British territory.
Mr. Gaitonde decided that he will go to meet
his son in his office and then go to a big library to solve the mystery of his transition by checking history books.
When Gaitonde came out of the railway station, he saw 'East India House' written on a big building,
which indicated that the East India Company still existed in Bombay and that history had taken a different turn after 1857. Further,
he found various British companies and buildings on the road. He visited his
son's office in Forbes building to meet him, but found that person with the name, Vinay Gaitonde, worked there or any other branch, although
the company was the same. This made Gaitonde realise the truth of what
Rajendra Deshpande had told him earlier about the Catastrophe Theory. He had
really made the transition to a parallel world.
He found the library of the Asiatic Society in Town Hall. He went in the library and found five books on Indian history which he had written. First four volumes mentioned the same historical event. But, on going through the fifth volume, after the death of Aurangzeb he found the history took a different turn history and the result of the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761 was different from what he knew. It said that the Marathas had won the battle handsomely, whereas in his reality they had lost it. From here onwards, the history of India changed and he could not believe whether he had written the book but it bore his writing style.
He found
confirmation in a Marathi journal, 'Bhausahebanchi Bakhar' about detailed account of the
battle. It stated that a bullet fired by the Afghans in the
battle just brushed the ear of the Maratha leader, Vishwasrao who escaped death. Though Gaitonde had written in his fifth volume that Vishwasrao had been
killed by a bullet in the battle and the Marathas lost their morale and the
battle subsequently. In
the parallel world, Vishwasrao survived, which boosted the morale of his troops and Marathas won this
battle.
The remaining
history of India, as recounted in the fifth volume by Gaitonde tells that India never went under British rule. The
Marathas did not allow the East India Company to expand its influence in India.
In fact, its influence was limited to a few places like Bombay, Calcutta and
Madras. India gradually adopted democracy but allowed the British to carry on
in Bombay on a lease for commercial reasons and other benefits, and technological advancements happening in Europe. Later, India saw democratic governments and rulers and Delhi Sultanate remained alive for the name sake and to approve the recommendations of the central government.
Prof. Gaitonde had to leave the library as it was closing time. Along with his notes, absent-mindedly, he also shoved the Bakhar into his left pocket. After taking super, he went for a stroll. He noticed that a crowd was entering a pandal in Azad Maiden, perhaps, a lecture was going on in Azad Maidan. When Gaitonde saw a vacant presidential chair on the stage, he went and sat on it, thinking that it was for him, because in the real world he had been invited for such a seminar. The audience reacted by strongly protesting against Gaitonde for sitting on the presidential chair as in this world, the people had become sick of hearing long introductions, vote of thanks and remarks from the presiding guests. They had abolished the custom of having a chair person long ago. The chair was only symbolic. Gaitonde got up and started speaking, but the audience pelted him with tomatoes, eggs and other objects and swarmed on to the stage to remove him.
During the
commotion, Gaitonde disappeared. Actually, he had suffered another catastrophe
by being knocked unconscious by the mob and returned to the real world. He found himself on the Azad Maidan the next morning with his clothes torn. He had no
idea what had happened and so, he returned to Pune.
On returning to the real world, Gaitonde narrated his adventure to his friend, Rajendra Deshpande, a scientific mathematical and expert. When Rajendra felt that Gaitonde had imagined about things because he was thinking about the third battle of Panipat at the time the truck hit him, Gaitonde showed Rajendra the torn-off of Marathi journal from the other world, the page about Vishwasrao escaping death. Now, Rajendra was amused and tried to explain the events through the Catastrophe Theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory by applying them to his adventure.
At first, Rajendra was perplexed by this new evidence. But, after further discussion with Gaitonde, Rajendra Deshpande explained that there could be many 'different worlds existing at different points of time' or even the same time. They could all have a different history. Explaining the lack of determinism theory, he told that if he fired an electron from a source, he won’t be able to tell where it would go. If he fired a bullet from a gun in a given direction at a given speed, he might be able to tell where it will be at a later time. But he can't make any such an assertion for the electron. It may be here, there, anywhere. He told that Professor Gaitonde had been to a parallel world. The time was the present but its history was quite different.
When Rajendra
suggested that Gaitonde could recount his adventure at the thousandth seminar
he was presiding over after a few days, Gaitonde told him that he had already
declined the invitation, as he did not want to chair any more seminars.
Probably, he remembered the treatment he had received from the audience in the
parallel world when he tried to chair the seminar.
Important Question Answers
Q1. Briefly Explain the following statements from the chapter:
1. “You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more correctly, a catastrophic experience.” Ans: This statement was given by Rajendra Deshpande to Professor Gaitonde. When he was hit by the truck, he was thinking about Catastrophe theory and its implications in the Battle of Panipat. He was unconscious in the hospital for the next two days but he was in a parallel world having a real life experience of many things which were different in the real world where he actually lives. So, he had passed through a catastrophic experience as after a severe accident in his real life he went through overwhelming, disturbing and confusing experience both in terms of his life and history.
2. “The Lack of Determinism in Quantum Theory!”
Ans: Rajendra Deshpande explained 'The Lack of Determinism in Quantum Theory' to Gaitonde in order to explain the reason behind his transition to the parallel world. It means the inability of the scientist
to know where the electron would move. Quantum theory means in physics, it can
be measured how the energy is produced and in what direction electrons may
move. This happened when Professor witnesses different history in parallel world in the
case of the third Battle of Panipat where the Marathas had won the war while in reality, they had lost the battle.
3. “You need some interaction to cause a
transition.”
Ans: Professor Gaitonde before the collision with the truck was thinking
about catastrophe theory and its implications in the Battle of Panipat. He was wondering what might
happen if the result was different in the Battle of Panipat. When he was hit by the
truck, the neurons in his brain made the transition. This was explained by
Rajendra to the professor when he failed to understand why only he made the
transition. He made this transition because his mind was busy thinking about the battle and its different consequence.
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