The Adventure:

 Writer: Jayant Narlikar

 Extract from The Adventure which discuss about two theories The catastrophe
theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum Theory
 Characters:
Professor Gangadhar Pant Gaitonde: Catastrophic accident, transition to parallel
world for 60 hours
Rajendra Deshpande: Mathematical and scientific expert, tries to rationalize
Professor Gaitonde’s experiences
Khan Sahab: A person in train who was travelling to Peshawar from Delhi on a
business.
Mr Vinay Gaitonde: Son of Professor Gangadhar Pant Gaitonde, worked in a Forbes
building
 Prerequisite for the chapter:
Professor Gangadhar Pant Gaitonde: eminent historian, leading public figure in Pune.
He had just completed is 999th occasion for presiding over public functions. 1000th
appearance on stage, important event, two weeks later, seminar on the third battle
of Panipat.
While walking, a truck had hit him. He lost consciousness. He transited to a parallel
world. He was in a hospital. When he discharges, he came to know that he was now
in an alternate world. So, he decided to go to Bombay because his son was working
in a British company there. He Went to Pune station and took a train to Bombay.
 Jijamata Express faster than deccan queen train – first class coach- sat beside khan
Sahab-
 What did Professor Gaitonde decide to do when he reached Bombay?
Meet his son
Go to library and browse through history books- thinks it is the best way to know
how the present state of affairs was reached
 Later return to Pune to talk to Rajendra Deshpande- help him understand what had
happened in this world
 At Sarhad station an Anglo Indian in uniform went through the train checking
permits.
 British raj begins from Sarhad- permits needed- union jack printed on the carriages
 Khan Sahab and his plan to go to Peshawar- GBMR – Great Britian Metropolitan
Railway- Beyond Dadar reached Victoria Terminus
 Clean station and staff – handful of British officers, Parsees, Anglo Indians
 Reached out- found out EAST INDIA COMPANY Headquarters – first shock – In this
world they existed even after 1857
 Walked on roads- English street- shops and building changed- boots and Woolworth
departmental stores- imposing offices of Lloyds, Barclays, and other British banks
 Reached Forbes building – along home street – Ask for receptionist to look for Mr
Vinay Gaitonde his son, whether if he worked there – Not found – questioned the
idea whether he was living in this world- questioned his own existence
 Decided to go to Library and see Town hall- Town hall was there as it was in his own
world- Library of Asiatic Society to solve riddles of history – asked for a list of history
books including his own
 His own 5 volumes of Indian history- Volume one took up to period of Ashoka,
Volume two up to SamudraGupta – Volume three up to Mohammad Ghori- Volume
four up to death of Aurangzeb – History was same as it was in his own world
 Things changed in the 5th volume – Battle of Panipat
 Marathas won handsomely – Abdali was routed back to Kabul – Maratha army led by
Sadashiv Rao bhau and his nephew Vishwas Rao
 Elaborated its consequences – The style of writing of evidently his own but the
account was different – Battle victory boosted morale of Maratha army and
influenced their supremacy in northern India – East India Company temporarily
shelved their expansionist programme - Increase in influence of Bhausaheb and
Vishwas Rao succeeded his father in 1780 AD. East India company matched its match
with the new Maratha ruler – Madhavrao his brother expanded influence all over
India – Company reduced to pockets like Bombay Madras and Calcutta like
Portuguese and French.
 Peshwas kept the Mughal regime in Delhi as puppet – Recognized the influence of
technological age dawning in Europe – Setup centers of science and technology – EIC
saw an opportunity to extend influence – offered aid and experts
 20th century India moved to democracy. Peshwas lost enterprise – replaced by
democratically elected bodies – Sultanate at Delhi survived – no real influence – no
more than a figurehead to stamp the recommendations of the central parliament –
EIC to return Bombay as the sole outpost on the subcontinent as per lease to expire
in 2001 according to treaty of 1908
 More detail – Bhausahebbanchi Bakhar – he seldom relied on Bakhar – buried in
graphic but doctored and detailed accounts he could spot the truth,
 God was merciful – a shot brushed by the ear of Vishwas Rao and he survived – The
bullet missed him by a difference of a sesame seed
 Library closed at 8o clock -accidently kept the Bakhar in his pocket and shoved his
notes as well
 Had a frugal meal – got a guest house – went to Azad Maidan – Lecture was going on
– There was a table and an empty chair unoccupied – presidential chair – took the
chair himself due to his habit – People violent – chair was for symbolic presence –
people had removed the old notions of a chairman presiding a lecture – Gangadhar
Pant but still faced the people as he had done this facing the Pune audience at its
most hostile form
 Crowed swarmed to the stage to eject him- Professor Gaitonde woke up in Azad
maidan but this time in his own world – went to Pune to recite all this to Rajendra
Deshpande – went to reason why did this happen
 He was thinking about the Catastrophe theory and the Battle of Panipat prior to the
truck collision as a result his mind was playing games and all this was just imagination
 Showed the evidence – book lost but torn page remains mentioning battle win – he
realized this when he was paying for his meal – showed comparison between his
both books
 Facts and two theories Catastrophe theory and lack on determinism in Quantum
Theory
 Applied it to Battle of Panipat – no great disparity between both the opposing forces
and the Marathas their armor was comparable – depended on leadership and morale
of the troops – juncture at Vishwas Rao death – pivotal point – army lost morale –
Bhausaheb never seen
 But in that world when the bullet missed - this changed the sequence of events and
pivot point – resulting boosting morale of the army and provided extra impetus to
win the battle and made the difference
 Gave example of the battle of waterloo that Napoleon could have won but lost which
is a unique history – what is reality we experience through senses or instruments but
we can also experience two realities at same time – in small systems behavior of
particles cannot be predicted even if all the physical laws governing those systems
are known
 Fire a bullet and fire an electron – bullet direction can be determined and we know
where it will be latter not the same for the case of electron – Lack of determinism in
quantum theory – in different world electron can be at different points
 For example, in two world electrons are orbiting around the nucleus – but the
electron could be orbiting in any of the large number of specified states – These
states may help to identify the world – In one world the electron may be in a higher
state of energy while in the other it may be in its lower state of energy
 A Pulse of radiation can make a jump from one state to other. Such transitions are
common in microscopic level and can happen at macroscopic level as well.
 Unsolved questions of science – interaction needed for transition – time of collision
was the event – neurons in brain acted as a trigger – easy to find topic of 1000th
seminar but rudely interrupted that he had delivered the one at Azad maidan in that
world.