_THE COMET 1 AND 2_

By Jayant Vishnu Narlikar

 Introduction….

Duttada was an amateur astronomer who had a secret ambition of finding a new
comet. One night he got lucky enough and discovered “Comet Dutta”. His discovery
soon got known worldwide and his life changed. A British scientist named James
Forsynth wrote a paper based on Duttada’s discovery and about how comet Dutta
was a major threat to Earth. Later on, Dr Forsynth was called to the Whitehall on
urgent notice by Sir John Macpherson regarding his paper. They found out that comet
Dutta was going to collide with Earth within a year, wiping out the existence of all
species. In a week’s time, a secret conference was held with experts from all over
world to find a solution to prevent comet Dutta from colliding with Earth. A plan was
made to approach the comet and detonate it. Will the plan be successful?.
 About the Author

Jayant Vishnu Narlikar (born 19 July 1938) is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus
professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
(IUCAA).He developed the Hoyle-Narlikar theory. It synthesises Albert Einstein's
theory of relativity and Mach's principle.Besides scientific papers and books and
popular science literature, Narlikar has written science fiction, novels, and short
stories in and Marathi. He is also the consultant for the Science and Mathematics
textbooks of NCERT. Some of his famous books are, ‘The Return of Vaman’ which is
a science fiction, ‘Violent Phenomenon in the Universe’, that talks about the universe
containing centers of furious activity that pour out vast amounts of energy, etc.
CHARACTER SKETCH OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS:

MANOJ DUTTA - Manoj Dutta lived on the outskirts of Kolkata. He had a secret ambition to
discover a comet. When he retired, he bought an 8-inch telescope. Duttada was an optimistic
person as he was optimistic about the discovery of a new comet.

INDRA DEBI - Indrani Devi was Duttada’s wife. She loved and respected her husband. But she
was quite superstitious and considered that comets were associated with bad luck or evil. She
used to criticise her husband for his obsession with discovering comets

SIR JOHN MACPHERSON -Sir John Macpherson was the Defence Science Advisor in her
Majesty's Government.Sir John realizes that if James’ paper is published as it is, it will create
panic all over the world.
JAMES FORSYTH - Dr. James Forsyth was a professor at king’s college, Cambridge. He learnt
about comet Dutta. He made his calculations and he found that comet Dutta was going to
collide with the earth.
 VOCABULARY
Important words to know..
● Hobnob - have friendly talk or
spend time together
● Oblivious - forgetful
● Wretch - unfortunate
● Amateur - non-professional
● Tete-a-tete - private meeting or
talk between two persons
● Eccentric - unusual/unlike the
orbits of other planets
● Optimistic - hopeful
● Deputise - act on your behalf
● Lethargy - laziness
● Annihilation - total destruction
● Sinister - dangerous/harmful
● Descendant - a close relative
● Aspersions - harsh remarks
● Detonating - setting it off /
making it explode
● Futile - useless; in vain
● Nebulous - hazy
 Summary
The story of 'The comet I' can be divided into Section I, which
revolves around an amateur scientist named Manoj Dutta and his
discovery; and Section II, which discloses the implications of
Duttada's discovered comet.
Section I of the story was about Manoj Dutta, an amateur scientist
whose life ambition was to discover a comet. His eight-inch
telescope, Dibya Chakshu, which means 'divine eye', helped him to
achieve his lifetime ambition, though his wife, Indrani Debi, had a
dislike for it. The comet was named after him as 'Comet Dutta'.
Duttada, being an introvert, did not enjoy participating in any of the
events that had been conducted to appreciate his work.
His wife agreed with his opinion, but for a different reason, as, she
believed the comet would bring bad luck.
Then, Duttada convinced his wife by explaining to her about the
features of a comet, that a comet would not generally harm the
Earth. But, the author gives out a clue to the readers that it was not
so.
 Quiz

Attempt these fun quizzes on the topics

https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/61ef7c35fd849d001dc87d5d/start?studentShar
e=true

(Quiz on Comet-1)

https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/61f3a83f18ca6a001db0123e/start?studentShare
=true

(Quiz on Comet-2)
Team efforts by :

Swarna Verma (INTRODUCTION)

Sargam Sharma (ABOUT THE AUTHOR)
Vaanya Gupta (VOCABULARY)
Radhika Garg (SUMMARY)
Kritika Kaushik (MESSAGE )
Paridhi Bhatt (CHARACTER SKETCH)
— THANK YOU —