The story is an account of real events.
Show solutionHide solution
False
Your cart is empty.
Practice each question, then open the answer or worked solution.
The story is an account of real events.
False
The story hinges on a particular historical event.
True
Rajendra Deshpande was a historian.
False
The places mentioned in the story are all imaginary.
False
The story tries to relate history to science.
True
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.”
“You did not travel to the past or the future. You were in the present, but you were in a different world.” These words were spoken by Rajendra Deshpande while attempting to explain his strange experience to Professor Gaitonde. When the professor was involved in an accident, he began to reflect on the Battle of Panipat and the consequences that occurred in his life. His thoughts wandered between what we know about history and what might have been. The professor was experiencing two worlds at the same time by thinking. According to the same theory, there must be many more different worlds emerging from unrealistic thoughts.
2. “You have passed through a fantastic experience: or more correctly, a catastrophic experience.”
“You’ve had a fantastic experience, or, more accurately, a catastrophic experience.” Professor Gaitonde was told by Rajendra Deshpande that he had an exciting experience. He claimed that we lived in a one-of-a-kind world with a one-of-a-kind history. Gangadhar Pant’s mind jumped to another world as a result of the accident, which was unrealistic. History took a different turn in that world after the Marathas won the Battle of Panipat. Rajendra explained this using the catastrophic theory, which holds that reality is full of misinterpretations.
3. Gangadharpant could not help comparing the country he knew with what he was witnessing around him.
“Gangadhar Pant couldn’t help but compare his home country to what he was seeing around him.” Gangadhar Pant witnessed two different perspectives of the same reality, albeit one at a time, during his extraordinary experience. The India he knew was described in history books as the result of the 1761 Battle of Panipat, in which the Marathas were defeated. The other India he saw was the result of the Marathas’ victory in the battle. In this version, he saw India as a prosperous country that could meet its own needs.
4. “The lack of determinism in quantum theory!”
It talks about quantum theory’s lack of determinism. If a bullet is fired from a gun in a specific direction at a specific speed, one can predict where it will end up, but the same cannot be said for an electron. When an electron is emitted by a source, it can come from anywhere. This is due to quantum theory’s lack of determinism. According to this theory, reality is never one-sided. At the same time, alternate worlds may exist.
5. “You need some interaction to cause a transition.”
To cause a transition, some interaction is required. According to Rajendra Deshpande, Professor Gaintonde made a change as a result of the interaction that occurred in the professor’s mind at the time of the collision. The professor was thinking about catastrophic theory and its role in wars at the time of the collision. He was thinking about the Battle of Panipat and its aftermath. The transition was caused by the interaction in his brain.