The adventure narrative is part of a genre of literature that combines science and history. Professor Gangadhar Pant Gaitonde is thrust into an unfamiliar world. He was undoubtedly in Pune, but still, due to some unknown reasons, the evidence contradicted history. He decided to travel to Bombay and study history books. Bombay was not at all what he had imagined. The East India Company continues to rule there. As per his knowledge of history, the East India Company was dissolved shortly after the events of 1857. He proceeded towards the library and discovered a missing link of information. After the battle of Panipat, circumstances took a new turn. The Marathas had won the war. 

The Adventure: Summary and Important Terms

Professor Gaitonde

Professor Gaitonde is the main character of the story, ‘The Adventure’. A session on the implications of the Catastrophe theory in the third battle of Panipat was discussed by the historian. His car crashed into a truck on the way, and he fell into a coma. During the comatose state, he entered a world where history is not as we know it. For example, in the third battle of Panipat, Afghans beat the Marathas, murdering their leader, Vishwas Rao. In a parallel universe, where Prof. Gaitonde had been, the Marathas won that battle, and Vishwas Rao narrowly escaped being shot. The triumph of the Marathas ushered in a slew of improvements and reforms across the nation. When the professor regained consciousness, his companion Rajendra Deshpande attempts to explain his weird experience using two scientific theories:  Catastrophe Theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum Theory.

The Parallel world

Professor Gaitonde, a professor of History, headed straight from Bombay to Pune. He met Anglo-Indians and the symbolic Union Jack on the carriages in the Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway.  In his attempt to understand where the course of history went otherwise, he visited a library and studied four books of history, beginning with Asoka and ending with the third battle of Panipat. The story, ‘The Adventure’, presents an account of parallel history, where the Marathas won the third battle of Panipat over the Afghans. Following their success, India became a democratic country. Professor Gaitonde rolled up a copy of the book into his pocket unconsciously. Then he arrived at Azad Maidan, where a seminar was in progress. The meeting did not have a chairman to preside over. This was surprising to the professor. When Gaitonde tried to occupy the chair and deliver a speech, the audience did not want one. He was humiliated with rotten tomatoes and eggs.

Notes on The Adventure 

Some of the important events from the story are:

1. Professor Gaitonde, a historian, is seen time-travelling into the past. When he travels through time, he discovers himself in Mumbai, in a parallel world, a place he has never seen before. We see him in the real world, conversing with his friend Rajendra.
2. The Mumbai he is now in is far different from what it is in reality. He arrives at the Victoria Terminus Station, which he finds to be very clean. ‘Greater Bombay Metropolitan Railway’ was written on the train’s carriages. The staff was also made up of Anglo-Indians and a few British commanders.
3. Gaitonde noticed the East India Company Headquarters as soon as he exited the station. Likewise, there were primarily British-branded buildings and British banks. In reality, his son’s Forbes office was nowhere to be seen. To tackle the puzzle, he visited the library and read about the Battle of Panipat. After reading, he discovers that the specifics differ from what actually occurred in his world. In fact, he learns that British rule never reached India, which he finds surprising. And from here, the climax of The Adventure starts.
4. After visiting the library, he went to the Azad Maidan and got into a confrontation with the crowd there. Gaitonde came out of his time-travel experience after being kicked off the stage and was found comatose in Azad Maidan. As a result, he seeks clarification from Professor Deshpande. During his tour, he discovers that reality differs from what we see with our senses. Professor Despande, although reluctant initially to believe Gaitonde’s account, finds it hard to reject the possibilities of a parallel world upon seeing the piece of evidence from the book Gaitonde was carrying in his pocket. He explains the Catastrophe theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum Theory to elaborate that the reality we live in can take on different forms or aspects.
5. Physicists feel that there are more universes other than the one we can perceive with our eyes. He further reveals that Gaitonde went to a parallel reality and saw things based on his last thoughts before hitting the coma. Since he was in a coma as a result of an accident, he found himself in a world where catastrophe theory was applied in the context of the third battle of Panipat, the very last thought he was having before he hit the comatose stage.

Conclusion

To summarise the story ‘The Adventure’, we discover that there may be alternate realities other than the one we perceive, and while they may appear realistic, they are all in our heads and a result of our thoughts. ‘The Adventure’ was written by Jayant Narlikar in a way that was both instructive and entertaining. It transports us to a parallel world where we get to see a different India. The story is an ideal blend of history and science.