The Adventure

Chapter Summary

Image: Battle of Panipat

(Source: Ujala.chowdhry, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

“The Adventure” is a story written by Jayant Narlikar. It is a story that revolves around one professor Gangaadharpant Gaitonde, who is strange. It is a story that centers on a historical event with this historian. Mr. Gangadharpaant is the protagonist. Here, the author shows how this man, Ganadharpant or Professor Gaitonde time travels. It is shown that he is strangely in a different world because he knows that he is in Pune, a city of Maharashtra, but the situation is different from what he believes. To understand the situation better he decides to travel to Bombay via jijamata express, but when he reaches the destination, he finds things differently. That is the time when he decides to investigate the history, and came to know many interesting and surprising facts. At that time India was still under the rule of the East India Company and the Battle of Panipat was won by the Marathas. However, he was unable to connect with the situation because it was completely different from whatever he knew or had studied earlier. However, the original situation was different, that the battle of Panipat was won by the Mughals, and the east India Company was taken back after the events of 1857. The story perfectly portrays the transition and an exact combination of history and science.

Marathas. However, he was unable to connect with the situation because it was completely different from whatever he knew or had studied earlier. However, the original situation was different, that the battle of Panipat was won by the Mughals, and the east India Company was taken back after the events of 1857. The story perfectly portrays the transition and an exact combination of history and science.

Briefly explain the following statements from the text.

(i) You neither traveled to the past nor the future. You were in the present experiencing a different world.

In the story named the Adventure, this line was told by Rajendra to Professor Gaitonde. The professor travels to one world from another and then went back again. Because of this, he was able to experience the incident from both worlds, however, one at a time. Everything was possible because of that transition that he went through. The fact is that he experiences a different world being in the present, which means he does not travel to the past or the future.

(ii) You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more correctly, a catastrophic experience.

In The adventure this statement was passed to Professor Gangaadharpant Gaitonde by Rajendra. The professor was gone through a completely different experience because he was living in two worlds. One world among them is the one where he lives now and the other is where he spent two days. In short, he was living in a one-of-a-kind world and oneof- a-kind history. It happened because of an accident that was unrealistic and he was witnessing a history that turn into a different one because the Marathas won the battle of Panipat. Rajendra was explaining the whole thing by using the catastrophic theory, which states that the reality is full of misinterpretations.

(iii) Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he knew with what he was witnessing around him.

In “The Adventure”, when professor Gaitonde visits the two different worlds, he could not help himself from comparing the two Indias that he saw. He was from India where the nation saw the fall of Peshwas and was under British Rule. Then there was another India where he spent two days of his life, it was independent and not under the British rule and had self-respect. What he already knew and what he was seeing has a completely different history.

(iv) The Lack of Determinism in Quantum Theory!

In The Adventure when Professor Gaitonde went through the transition, he thinks about going to a library in Bombay and then looking for some books that can help him to understand the present state of affairs. At the time of his return to Pune, he had a long and fruitful conversation with Rajendra, in the hope of getting help from him, so he can comprehend what happened.

(v) You need some Interaction to cause a Transition.

In The Adventure, Professor Gaitonde went through a transition from one India that he knows to the other that has a different history. This line was said by Rajendra. According to him, Professor Gaitonde made a lot of changes those results in the interaction that happened in his mind at the time of the collision. Professor Gaitonde was thinking about the catastrophic theory and the battle of Panipat and its consequences. The transition that he went through was a result of this type of interaction.

In which language do you think Gangadharpant and Khan Sahib talked to each other? Which language did Gangadharpant use to talk to the English receptionist?

In The Adventure, Professor Gangadharpaant and Khan Shahid was communicating in Marathi. They also used a translator to communicate with other English-speaking receptionists.

In which language do you think Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was written?

The Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was written in the Marathi Language.

There is mention of three communities in the story: The Marathas, the Mughals, and the Anglo Indians. Which language do you think they used within their communities and while speaking to the other groups?

Whenever they need to speak to each other, they specifically use that language that can be easily understood by the people of three communities.

Do you think that the ruled always adopt the language of the ruler?

It is a tradition that the ruled have always adopted the language of the ruler. The main reason behind this is a better understanding that helps in communication between the two communities.

FAQs

Q1. What is Catastrophic Theory?

Ans. The catastrophic Theory is a theory that was first developed in the year 1960 by a French Mathematician Named Rene Thom. The theory states that a sudden change of behavior arises from a small change in the circumstances.

Q2. What was Rajendra’s understanding of professor Gaitonde’s story?

Ans. When Rajendra first hears the story of professor Gaitonde, he came up with two causes of the whole incident. The first one was the catastrophic theory and the second was lack of determination in the quantum theory. In the first case, one single change in the circumstances can bring a change in the whole behavior. In the second case the quantum theory states that the electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom are always unpredictable. Therefore, if the level of energy jumps, it results in a transition.

Q3. Why Professor was unable to believe the history that he witnessed?

Ans. In the adventure professor Gaitonde went through a transition between two different Indias. Those two are different in their history. The main reason why professor Gaitonde was unable to believe what he was seen was the history. He is from one version of India where the history is different and he gets stuck into a different version of India after getting hit by a truck. It was way apart from reality. Here the battle of Panipat was won by the Marathas and this India was free from the slavery of the British. Those two incidents made him doubtful about the facts.