The Adventure
Understanding the text
I. Tick the statements that are true.
1. The story is an account of real events.
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2. The story hinges on a particular historical event.
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3. Rajendra Deshpande was a historian.
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4. The places mentioned in the story are all imaginary.
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5. The story tries to relate history to science.
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II. Briefly explain the following statements from the text.
1. “You neither travelled to the past nor the future. You were in
the present experiencing a different world.”
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2. “You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more
correctly, a catastrophic experience.”
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3. Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he
knew with what he was witnessing around him.
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4. “The lack of determinism in quantum theory!”
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5. “You need some interaction to cause a transition.”
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Talking about the text
1. Discuss the following statements in groups of two pairs, each pair
in a group taking opposite points of view.
(i) A single event may change the course of the history of a nation.
(ii) Reality is what is directly experienced through the senses.
(iii) The methods of inquiry of history, science and philosophy
are similar.
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2. (i) The story is called ‘The Adventure’. Compare it with the
adventure described in ‘We’re Not Afraid to Die...’
(ii) Why do you think Professor Gaitonde decided never to preside
over meetings again?
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Thinking about language
1. 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?
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2. In which language do you think Bhausahebanchi Bakhar was
written?
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3. There is mention of three communities in the story: the Marathas,
the Mughals, the Anglo-Indians. Which language do you think
they used within their communities and while speaking to the
other groups?
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4. Do you think that the ruled always adopt the language of the ruler?
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Working with words
I. Tick the item that is closest in meaning to the following phrases.
1. to take issue with
(i) to accept
(ii) to discuss
(iii) to disagree
(iv) to add
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2. to give vent to
(i) to express
(ii) to emphasise
(iii) suppress
(iv) dismiss
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3. to stand on one’s feet
(i) to be physically strong
(ii) to be independent
(iii) to stand erect
(iv) to be successful
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4. to be wound up
(i) to become active
(ii) to stop operating
(iii) to be transformed
(iv) to be destroyed
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5. to meet one’s match
(i) to meet a partner who has similar tastes
(ii) to meet an opponent
(iii) to meet someone who is equally able as oneself
(iv) to meet defeat
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II. Distinguish between the following pairs of sentences.
1. (i) He was visibly moved.
(ii) He was visually impaired.
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2. (i) Green and black stripes were used alternately.
(ii) Green stripes could be used or alternatively black ones.
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3. (i) The team played the two matches successfully.
(ii) The team played two matches successively.
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4. (i) The librarian spoke respectfully to the learned scholar.
(ii) You will find the historian and the scientist in the
archaeology and natural science sections of the
museum respectively.
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Noticing form
The story deals with unreal and hypothetical conditions. Some of the sentences used to express this notion are given below:
1. If I fire a bullet from a gun in a given direction at a given speed,
I know where it will be at a later time.
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2. If I knew the answer I would solve a great problem.
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3. If he himself were dead in this world, what guarantee had he
that his son would be alive.
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4. What course would history have taken if the battle had gone the
other way?
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Notice that in an unreal condition, it is clearly expected that the
condition will not be fulfilled.
Things to do
I. Read the following passage on the Catastrophe Theory downloaded
from the Internet.
Originated by the French mathematician, Rene Thom, in
the 1960s, catastrophe theory is a special branch of
dynamical systems theory. It studies and classifies
phenomena characterised by sudden shifts in behaviour
arising from small changes in circumstances.
Catastrophes are bifurcations between different
equilibria, or fixed point attractors. Due to their restricted
nature, catastrophes can be classified on the basis of how
many control parameters are being simultaneously varied.
For example, if there are two controls, then one finds the
most common type, called a ‘cusp’ catastrophe. If, however,
there are more than five controls, there is no
classification.
Catastrophe theory has been applied to a number of
different phenomena, such as the stability of ships at sea
and their capsizing, bridge collapse, and, with some less
convincing success, the fight-or-flight behaviour of animals
and prison riots.
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II. Look up the Internet or an encyclopedia for information on the
following theories.
(i) Quantum theory
(ii) Theory of relativity
(iii) Big Bang theory
(iv) Theory of evolution
