English (Core) · Ch 9 — The Adventure
About the Author and the Text
About the Author and the Text
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (born 1938) is one of India's most eminent astrophysicists and a gifted science writer. Trained at Cambridge, he worked with Fred Hoyle on theories of gravitation and cosmology and later helped found the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune. Alongside his research, Narlikar is well known for making difficult science accessible to ordinary readers through essays and science fiction, for which he has been widely honoured.
The Adventure is a science-fiction story that plays with a fascinating question: what if a single event in history had turned out differently? The historian Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde, after a road accident, finds himself in a strange, alternate version of India where the Marathas won the Battle of Panipat and the British never came to rule the country. Through his bewildering two-day experience in this parallel world, and its later explanation by the scientist Rajendra Deshpande, Narlikar weaves together history and modern physics — the catastrophe theory, quantum indeterminacy and the idea of many parallel worlds — to suggest that reality itself may not be single or fixed.
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
- blow-by-blow account — a detailed, step-by-step description of everything that happened
- de facto — existing in fact or in practice, even if not officially or legally recognised
- morale booster — something that lifts people's confidence and fighting spirit
- astute — shrewd and sharp-witted; quick to see and seize an advantage
- relegated to — pushed down or aside into a lower, less important position
- doctored accounts — records that have been tampered with or deliberately falsified
- political acumen — keen, practical judgement and skill in political matters
- gave vent to — freely expressed or let out (a strong feeling or opinion)