Class 11 commerce students can refer to Chapter 7 The Adventure notes given below which is an important chapter in the class 11 English book. These notes and important questions and answers have been prepared based on the latest CBSE and NCERT syllabus and books issued for the current academic year. Our team of English teachers has prepared these notes for class 11 English for the benefit of students so that you can read these revision notes and understand each topic carefully.

The Adventure Notes Class 11 English

Refer to the notes and important questions given below for The Adventure which is really useful and has been recommended by Class 11 English teachers. Understanding the concepts in detail and then solving questions by yourself will help you to learn all topics given in your NCERT Books.

This fictional narrative by Jayant Narlikar belongs to the genre of science fiction and deals with the much intriguing aspect of time.The protagonist of this story, Professor Gaitonde, a historian is preparing for his thousandth presidential address in which he would speak on the topic “What course history would have taken if the result of the Battle of Panipat had gone the other way?”

While on an evening stroll he is hit by a truck.

• At that time he was thinking of the catastrophe theory and its implications for history.
• He found himself in another Bombay-which looked more like England (cleaner, big English shops).
• The East India Company was flourishing. In this different Bombay, he went to the Asiatic Society library in the town hall, to read some History books, including the ones he had written.
• Most of the history was as he knew it in his world-but the point where history had changed was the Battle of Panipat. In this different world, the Marathas had won.
• The Marathas had not allowed the East India Company to expand. In fact, its influence was limited to a few places like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. India had become a democracy but allowed the British to carry on for commercial reasons.
• Prof. G wanted to find out how the Marathas had won the battle. According to one history book, the Maratha army’s morale was boosted when Vishwasrao managed to escape death narrowly.

Next morning he went for a stroll to Azad Maidan.

• There was a lecture and Prof. Gaitonde went and sat on the vacant presidential chair.
• It turned out that in this world people were fed up of long speeches and had abolished the ‘chairing’ custom.
• They got angry because Prof. Gaitonde would not stop talking. They threw things at him and then got onto the stage to throw him out. Suddenly Prof G vanished.
• He was found in the Azad Maidan in his own familiar world. But where had he been for two days remained a mystery.?
• He showed Rajender Deshpande the proof that he had been somewhere else and not just imagining things- the torn-off page of the history book from the other world, about Vishwasrao escaping death.
• In his book in his own world, the account was given as Vishwasrao being hit by the bullet and dying. So in our world, the Marathas had not won, the East India Company had not flourished and so on.
• Through discussions. Prof Gaitonde and Rajender Deshpande came to the conclusion that there could be many ‘different worlds at different points of time.’ They could all have a different history.
• Prof. Gaitonde had been to another world. The time was the present but their history was completely different!

Rajendra Deshpande his scientist friend offers a scientific explanation of his strange experience. He says that professor Gaitonde was living in the present but was experiencing different worlds. This shift from present world to another was based on catastrophe theory. According to this theory small changes in circumstances lead to a sudden shift in behaviour.

Short Answer Questions

Question. What did the professor do in the Town Hall Library?
Ans. The professor consulted the history books that he himself had written. There was no change in the events upto death of Aurangezeb. The change had occurred in last volume. He read the description of the battle of Panipat. Aadali was defeated by Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau and his nephew. Vishwasrao. It established the supremacy of the marathas. They set up their science research centres. They accepted the help of English experts.

Question. Who was Professor Gaitonde? What was his plan in Bombay?
Ans. Professor Gaitonde was a historian. He had written five volumes on History. He was on his way to Bombay. He planned to go to a library and consult the history books
there to find out how present state of affairs was reached.

Question. What did the professor wish to find out in history books?
Ans. He wished to find the answer to his question how Marathas won the Battle of Panipat. He found a clue in the book titled Bakhars. Vishwasrao had a narrow escape from being killed by the bullet that brushed past his ear. This boosted the morale of Maratha army and they won the battle.

Long Answers Type Questions

Question. How did Rajendra Deshparde apply his theory of Catastrophic experience regarding the Battle of Panipat?
Ans. Gangadherpant narrated to Rajendra his experience at the Azad Maidan meeting. For two days he was in coma. He had met with an accident. He asked Rajendra Prasad to explain where he had spent those days. He admitted that he had been thinking of the catastrophic theory before the collision and how it could charge the history course. He produced a page from the Bakhar toprove that his mind was working normally. The page described that Vishwasrao had not escaped the bullet, rather he had been killed. If was just contrary to what his own history book said. And he wanted to known the facts.