Comet – II, Class 8 English, Chapter 10 Notes

Sir John Macpherson and James Forsyth had finished their discussions. It was 1 a.m. when Sir John dropped James at his hotel. There was hardly any crowd on the street. The sky was covered with stars. James started thinking of Comet Dutta. It was heading for a collision with the Earth. Looking at the peaceful sky, no one could believe this would happen. So James wondered if he had made his calculations right.

Sir John had organised a conference of scientists. James found all the experts listed by him were there. Besides, Sir John’s special invitee, Manoj Dutta, was also present. The conference lasted one week. It continued in total secrecy. First, the experts checked, again and again, James’s calculation. The latest observations of Comet Dutta were made. The scientists came to the conclusion that there was no escape from the comet’s direct hit at the Earth. There was a small chance that the comet may only graze the atmosphere of the earth. In that case, loss of life and property won’t be total.

The scientists rejected defensive measures. They decided to take offensive action. The comet could be deflected from its path by giving it a push. This can be done with the help of nuclear power. But a huge amount of nuclear power would be needed for this purpose, The nuclear payload placed in a spacecraft should be taken near the comet. There it should be exploded by remote control. Finally, a time-table was drawn up for operation.

Duttada asked Sir John if he thought the project would be successful. He (Sir John) was in doubt. So he replied by saying that he would buy Christmas presents after December 15 only. By that time it would have been known whether the calamity had been averted. Duttada paid a visit to the British Isles for two weeks after the conference. He visited observatories and exchanged views with astronomers. Thus he had a pleasant time. Then he returned to Calcutta. He was greeted by a large crowd of friends, social leaders, students, and hangers-on. He was garlanded and the press asked him many questions.

There was another crowd waiting for him under a pandal when he reached home. Indrani Debi, his wife, had arranged a yajna. She had called the priests to bless him. Duttada asked her if she had done so because he had come from a foreign country. But going abroad was no longer a taboo. He told her she knew that he didn’t believe in these meaningless rituals. His younger brother said that they were very disturbed since he had discovered the comet. They were all waiting for him to perform the yajna. Duttada found no advantage in such a religious ceremony.

Sibaji said that the comet will not cause any bad effects on the Earth because of the yajna. At this Duttada lost his temper. He told his brother that it was superstition. Such a belief could be forgiven in the olden times. This is because people did not know what comets were. But it is not so in modern times. The movements of comets are forecast exactly. It has also been proved that their visits have no connection with disasters on Earth.

Duttada had regular correspondence with Sir John after his return from London. They appreciated each other’s qualities. So they became good friends. Sir John admired Duttada’s scientific outlook. The latter admired Sir John’s discipline and efficiency. They never mentioned the Project Light Brigade in their letters. However, Sir John gave sufficient hints about it for Duttada to understand. Comet Dutta was heading for the Earth. It had neither broken up nor evaporated. The scientists of the Light Brigade knew that the threat of collision was real. In the middle of October, Duttada got a letter from Sir John. Among other things, Sir John had said that the charge of the Light Brigade had begun. But there were many unanswered questions.

Duttada could not share his anxiety about the comet with anybody. He had to take part in puja ceremonies. He had to celebrate Diwali and other festivals. His only relaxation was in the company of his grandson, Khoka. He spent his nights looking at the stars through ‘Dibya’. He was regularly following the course of the comet. It was now clearly visible even to the naked eye. On November 18, a special messenger came from the British Council. He had brought a message from Sir John. When Duttada read it he lost all his laziness. He rushed to his favourite rasgolla shop. Sir John’s message was “I am confident now of buying my Christmas presents on December 15.” On December 15, Comet Dutta came nearest the earth. It was 80,000 kilometres away. Many people saw and admired it. But only a few knew that they had been quite close to total destruction.

Duttada told his wife that the comet had come and gone. But there was no disaster on the earth because of this. She replied that she agreed with this. But he should know how it was averted. Duttada was surprised as to how she could know it. He had never mentioned Project Light Brigade to her. On being asked, she said that there was no disaster because of the yajna in their house. Duttada remarked that he never performed the yajna. Indrani Debi told him that she had found a way out. Khoka, their grandson, became his representative at the yajna. Indrani Debi was feeling very happy.

Duttada thought of Khoka performing the’ yajna uttering mantras. Then he thought of the scientists at the conference. It seemed difficult to believe that both pictures were different aspects of contemporary society. There is a gulf that separates the rich from the poor; the educated from the illiterate. But the gap between the rational and the superstitious seemed to him far wider.

Word Meanings

Word	Meaning
Deliberations	formal consultations
Star-studded	covered with thickly set stars
greeted	welcomed
collision	crash
calamity	disaster
efficiency	skill
dispelled	removed
invitee	one who has been invited
cover of secrecy	concealed
latest	newest
escape	saving
predicted	foretold
graze	scrape the skin
respite	relief
reassuring	cheering
dismissed	rejected
measures	steps
practical	feasible
proposition	suggestion
offensive	used to attack
marginally	unimportant manner
deflected	turning aside from a fixed course
bulk	the greater part
achieve	complete
mammoth	very large
gigantic	huge
explosion	the act of exploding
suitably	properly
directed	guided
trick	feat
intercept	stop
approaching	coming
detonating	make it explode
preserved	kept safe
drawn up	prepared
code-named	identified
despatch	send
rendezvous	meeting  place
massive	heavy
estimate	guess
considerable	quite a lot
affinity	closeness in relationship
exchanging views	talking
inevitable	unavoidable
vast	big
bombarded	keep attacking with questions
made his way	went
obviously	clearly
rituals	set of traditions and actions used in a religious ceremony
recommended	advised
pacify	calm down
outwardly	apparently
blew up	speak angrily
condoned	excuse or forgive
forecast	to tell before something happens
precisely	exactly
correlations	connections
futile	useless
correspondence	communication by letters
appreciation	give importance
eagerly	keenly
launched	started off on a course
sole	only
relaxation	the act of becoming less worried or tense
urgent	necessary
lethargy	laziness
rushed	run
favourite	preferred
confident	sure
annihilation	total destruction
comment	remark
attributed to	put down to
averted	avoided
probed	investigated
cautiously	carefully
refused	declined
way out	solution
unwilling	refusing
deputise	act as a deputy
triumph	victory
pouring	putting
executing	doing
aware of	knowing
gulf	difference
rational	logical
Eliminating	to get rid of