The Adventure by Jayant Narlikar

About the writer Jayant Narlikar

Name Jayant Narlikar

Born 19 July 1938 (age 81 years), Kolhapur

Spouse Mangala Narlikar

Awards Padma Vibhushan, Adams Prize, Padma Bhushan, Prix Jules Janssen

Known for Steady-state model, Hoyle–Narlikar theory of gravity

Jayant Narlikar

Theme
This is an extract of the later half of the story ‘The Adventure” by Jayant
Narlikar. It is a science fiction story in which two theories, the Catastrophe
theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory, are tried to be
explained through an imaginary set of events which would have occurred in
the life of a professor of history if the result of a battle more than 200 years
earlier would have been different.

About the Characters

Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde: He is an eminent professor of history
working in Pune. He has a catastrophic accident which causes him to
transition to a parallel world for 60 hours.
Rajendra Deshpande: He is a mathematical and scientific expert who tries
to rationalise Professor Gaitonde’s experience by applying the Catastrophe
theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory.

Summary
Earlier Part of the Story (Not the Part of Text)
Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde was an eminent historian and a
leading public figure of Pune. He was much in demand for presiding over
public functions. He had just completed his 999th occasion for presiding at
a function. He had decided that his thousandth appearance on the stage
would be for history. That occasion was to come two weeks later at a
seminar devoted to the Third Battle of Panipat.
While he was walking home, a truck on the road hit him. He lost
consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he had transited to a
parallel world (although he was not aware of this). He was in hospital. After
recovering, he was discharged from the hospital the next morning. He tried
to reach his home, but he found that it did not exist in the parallel world. He
decided to go to Bombay because his son was working in a British
company there. He went to Pune railway station and took a train to
Bombay. The extract starts from here.

Gaitonde’s Journey to Bombay

When Gaitonde had to get a permit to visit Bombay, he was told that
Bombay was 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 would be going on to Peshawar from Delhi on
business. Then he realised that there had been no partition of India (in this
parallel world). On the route, the train stopped only at Lonavala, Karjat and
the border town of Safhad, 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, indicating that they were
passing through British territory.
Gaitonde Fails to Find his Son
Gaitonde had planned out his activities on his visit to Bombay. He would try
to meet his son and then go to a big library to solve the mystery of his
transition. When Gaitonde stepped out of the railway station, he saw ‘East
India House’, which indicated that the East India Company still existed in
Bombay. Further, he found various British companies and buildings on the
road. He visited his son’s office to meet him, but found that no such person
worked there, although the company was the same one. 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.
Gaitonde Finds the Information he Needed
He visited the Town Hall building in which the library of the Asiatic Society
was located. Luckily for him, it also existed in the parallel world. In the
library he also found the five books on Indian history which he had written.
On going through the fifth volume, which gave India’s history after the
death of Aurangzeb, he found that the result of the third battle of Panipat in
1761 was written differently from what he knew, although he was the author
of this book in the parallel world.
It said that the Marathas had won the battle, whereas he knew that they
had lost it. From here onwards, the history of India changed, which
explained what Gaitonde had been experiencing for the last few hours.

He found confirmation in a Marathi journal about how exactly the Marathas

had won the battle. The Marathi journal stated that a bullet fired by the
Afghans in the battle just brushed the ear of the leader of the Marathas,
Vishwasrao. Gaitonde in the real world had written in his fifth volume that
Vishwasrao had been killed by a cannon shell in the battle and the
Marathas lost their morale and the battle subsequently, because that was
what earlier historians had written. In the parallel world, Vishwasrao
survived, rallied his troops and won this battle.

India’s Remaining History in the Parallel World

The remaining history of India, as recounted in the fifth volume Gaitonde
was reading, can be summarised by saying 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 became a democracy but
allowed the British to carry on in Bombay on a lease for commercial
reasons. The lease was due to expire in the year 2001, 15 years after the
time of this story.
Gaitonde Returns to the Real World
Gaitonde left the library when it closed in the evening, indicating to the
librarian that he would come back next morning. After taking a meal, he
went for a stroll to Azad Maidan. There was a lecture going on there. 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 sitting on the presidential chair.
The reason was that, in this world, the people had become sick of hearing
long introductions, vote of thanks and remarks of the chair. They were only
interested in what the speaker was speaking and had abolished the custom
of having a chairman long ago. The chair kept on the platform was only
symbolic.

Gaitonde got up and started speaking, but the audience pelted him with
tomatoes, eggs and other objects as they did not want any remarks from
him. When Gaitonde still did not stop speaking, the audience 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, as he was found on
the Azad Maidan the next morning with his clothes torn. He had no idea
what had happened and so he returned to Pune.

Rajendra Deshpande Explains What Happened to Gaitonde

Gaitonde narrated his adventure to his friend Rajendra Deshpande, a
mathematical and scientific expert. Rajendra tried to explain to him what
had happened by explaining how the Catastrophe theory and the lack of
determinism in Quantum theory applied to his adventure.
When Rajendra felt that Gaitonde had imagined- things because he may
have been thinking about the third battle of Panipat at the time the truck hit
him, Gaitonde showed Rajendra the torn-off page of the history book from
the other world, about Vishwasrao escaping death. In the book in the real
world, the account was given as Vishwasrao being hit by a bullet and dying.
So in the real world, the Marathas had not won, the East India Company
had flourished and so on.

At first, Rajendra was perplexed by this new evidence. But, after further
discussion with Gaitonde, Rajendra Deshpande explained that he had
come to the conclusion that there could be many ‘different worlds existing
at different points of time’. They could all have a different history. Professor
Gaitonde had been to another parallel world. The time was the present but
its history was quite different.

Gaitonde Refuses to Chair any More Seminars

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 a
seminar.
Chapter Highlights
Professor Gaitonde had a collision with a truck. At that time he was thinking
of the Catastrophe theory and its implications for history.

He found himself in another Bombay, which looked more like England as it

was much cleaner and had many big English shops). The East India
Company was flourishing there.

In this Bombay, he went to the Asiatic Society library in the Town Hall to
read some history books, including the ones he had himself written.

Most of the history was as he knew it in his world, but the point where the
history had changed was the third Battle of Panipat. In this different world,
the Marathas had won this battle.
Then 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 had become a democracy but allowed
the British to carry on in these cities for commercial reasons.

Gaitonde wanted to find out how the Marathas had won the battle.
According to one history book in the library, the Maratha army’s morale was
boosted when Vishwasrao managed to escape death narrowly.

After leaving the library in the evening, he went for a stroll to Azad Maidan.
There was a lecture going on. 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. But in
this world, people were fed up of long speeches and had abolished the
’chairing’ custom. They got angry because Gaitonde would not stop talking.
They threw various things at him and then got onto the stage to throw him
out. But suddenly Gaitonde vanished.

He was found in the Azad Maidan, in his own familiar world. Where had he
been for two days?

He went back to Pune and showed Rajendra Deshpande the proof that he
had been somewhere else and was not imagining things. It was the torn-off
page of the history book from the other world, about Vishwasrao escaping
death. In the book in his own world, the account was given as Vishwasrao
being hit by a bullet and dying. So in our world, the Marathas had not won,
the East India Company had flourished and so on.

Through discussions, Professor Gaitonde and Rajendra Deshpande came

to the conclusion that there could be many ‘different worlds at different
points of time’. They could all have a different history. Professor Gaitonde
had been to another world. The time was the present but its history was
quite different.

Word Meaning
ghat section – section of railway track in the Western Ghats, i.e. the hilly
region
landscape – painting of a countryside or rural scenery
roared through – passed through with a roaring sound without stopping
racing – fast thinking
state of affairs – situation
Sarhad – border town
Anglo-Indian – An Indian of English descent or of mixed English and Indian
parentage
ventured – dared to ask
Central – Bombay Central railway station
been wound up – stopped its operations
blow – setback
volume – book in a series of books
blow-by-blow account – detailed description
morale booster – event that improved their confidence and raised their
morale
from the sidelines – but not taking part in it
relegated to – assigned to a lower rank or position
political acumen – political shrewdness with keen insight
pockets – areas
puppet – actually under control of another
de facto – existing
astute – marked by practical intelligence
rubber-stamp – formally approve
doctored accounts – narratives changed so as to deceive
after his heart – to his liking
throng – crowd
gave vent to – expressed his feelings and ideas
valiantly – courageously
dumbfounded – greatly surprised
smugly – with a self-satisfied look
Bakhar – form of historical narrative written in Marathi prose
food for thought – something that requires serious consideration
pacing – walking to and fro
catastrophic – sudden happening causing damage and/ or suffering
take issue – disagree
definitively – finally with authority
ignoramus – ignorant
trajectory – path
proceeded – carried on
speculating – guessing