Jayant Narlikar Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context. ³ blow-by-blow account ³ de facto ³ morale booster ³ astute ³ relegated to ³ doctored accounts ³ political acumen ³ gave vent to T HE Jijamata Express sped along the Pune-Bombay* route considerably faster than the Deccan Queen. There were no industrial townships outside Pune.
The first stop, Lonavala, came in minutes. The ghat section that followed was no different from what he knew. The train stopped at Karjat only briefly and went on at even greater speed. It roared through Kalyan.
Meanwhile, the racing mind of Professor Gaitonde had arrived at a plan of action in Bombay. Indeed, as a historian he felt he should have thought of it sooner. He would go to a big library and browse through history books. That was the surest way of finding out how the present state of affairs was reached.
He also planned eventually to return to Pune and have a long talk with Rajendra Deshpande, who would surely help him understand what had happened. That is, assuming that in this world there existed someone called Rajendra Deshpande! The train stopped beyond the long tunnel. It was a small station called Sarhad.
An Anglo-Indian in uniform went through the train checking permits. The present story is an adapted version. The original text of the story can be consulted on the NCERT website : * Now known as Mumbai “This is where the British Raj begins. You are going for the first time, I presume?” Khan Sahib asked.
“Yes.” The reply was factually correct. Gangadharpant had not been to this Bombay before. He ventured a question: “And, Khan Sahib, how will you go to Peshawar?” “This train goes to the Victoria Terminus*. I will take the Frontier Mail tonight out of Central.” “How far does it go?
By what route?” “Bombay to Delhi, then to Lahore and then Peshawar. A long journey. I will reach Peshawar the day after tomorrow.” Thereafter, Khan Sahib spoke a lot about his business and Gangadharpant was a willing