Paper-6 : Popular Literature Unit-3e

The Ice Age Cometh

Jayant Narlikar
Rituraj Anand

1. About the Author

Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born in Kolhapur (Maharashtra) on 19 July 1938, in a family of
scholars. He is an astrophysicist from Cambridge and the Founder-Director of Inter
University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. He is known internationally for his work
in the field of Cosmology. He was the president of the Cosmology Commission of the
International Astronomical Union, during 1995-97. Jayant Narlikar has created a place for
himself as a Science Fiction Writer in his mother tongue, Marathi. ‘The Ice Age Cometh’ is
an extract from It Happened Tomorrow, published by The National Book Trust. It Happened
Tomorrow is a collection of nineteen select science fiction stories written in various Indian
Languages.
2. Learning Objectives
This lesson will enable you to:
• Critically analyze the story, The Ice Age Cometh
• Identify the various elements of Science Fiction in the story
3. Summary
The Ice Age Cometh is about an eco-catastrophe which has befallen the earth, and how this
catastrophe is contained by an Indian scientist Vasant Chitnis. This story has all the elements
of a pot boiler- the doomsday syndrome, and a lone hero rescuing the world. The story is set
over a period of two years. The immediate setting is Bombay, along with a few instances
from other parts of the world. The Ice age of Paleolithic times becomes a reality in the
present world, and in keeping with the science fiction tradition there is a plausible scientific
explanation offered for the unexpected occurrence. Nowhere is it implied that the disaster is
caused by the humans; in fact it is the unity among humans that contains it. But the damage
caused in the course of containing it must also be fought collectively in the spirit of
brotherhood. The end of the story is a lesson for everyone, that there’s no other solution to
ecological crisis, except coming together and taking action before it is too late.
Mumbai receives unprecedented snowfall which makes Rajiv Shah, one of the two
protagonists of the story, remember a bet that he had placed some five years previously
against Vasant’s claim that there would be snowfall in Bombay within the next ten years.
Rajiv Shah is a journalist and an inquisitive person, living in the city of Bombay. He had met
Professor Vasant Chitnis at a party hosted by the Indian ambassador in Washington. It was at
this party that Vasant on hearing the news of the Volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius (the
fourth activity in the previous three months), had predicted that the eruption would lead to the
spread of some particulate matters in atmosphere causing a minor Ice Age. He had also
predicted that it would lead to the evacuation of northern cities like New York, Chicago and
Washington, too. Rajiv, who hadlike the others at the party dismissed the prediction as

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simply a tall claim of a scientist, after the snowfall in Mumbai, approaches Vasant Chitnis to
learn more about the phenomena , and also to bring the same into the public domain through
the newspapers.
Vasant Chitnis explains to Rajiv how the oceans play a crucial role in controlling the
earth’s climate. He informs him that the lowering of the temperature of sea water below the
surface, leads to the thinning of upper surface. With Volcanic eruptions and the temperature
drop to forty degrees below zero near the extremities of earth, “diamond dust” is formed,
which shields the earth from sunlight. This diamond screen prevents the sunlight from
reaching the earth surface. As a consequence, the earth is unable to warm itself. The
increasing number of Volcanic eruptions pose serious danger to the safety margins of the
earth, making it narrow with time. Rajiv is amazed with this piece of information and realizes
that this might spiral the earth towards the Ice Age. Rajiv publishes an article highlighting the
prediction of climatic catastrophe by Chitnis. After this publication, Chitnis earns much
respect and credibility amongst his peers.
Despite the warning sounded by Chitnis, the world considers the temporary thaw in the
summer as the end of the Ice Age and reverts to the old order of things. One day, Vasant
visits Rajiv and hands him a short message about the drop in the water temperature of
Antarctica by two degrees. He advises Rajiv to shift to a place closer to the equator, which
would save him from the long winter ahead. He, himself, books a one-way ticket to Bandung.
In the first week of that November, there is a mass migration of birds towards the
equatorial regions; the birds instinctively knew of the coming ice spell and were moving
closer to the equator. The satellites predict heavy snowfall in several parts of earth in the
coming days. Even the most technologically advanced countries like Japan, Canada and the
USA were not prepared to face a second onslaught of snow and ice. The whole world
surrenders to the impending doom. Rajiv receives a call from Richard Holmes, a member of
the US Energy Board who wishes to get in touch with Vasant Chitnis, so that a solution can
be found to fight the disaster. Vasant Chitnis devises a method and the same is implemented
under the code name ‘Invasion of Indra’.
With only a ten- degree belt, north and south of the equator still retaining the blue-green
color, all the nations leaving behind their rivalries finally come together. Rockets, satellites,
hot-air balloons and high flying aircraft are pressed into the attack. The idea is to bombard
the atmosphere with tiny metallic particles, which would absorb the sun’s heat and convey it
to the earth. To reduce the diamond dust, explosive heating of the atmosphere is done with
the utilization of weapon technology. After six months the earth slowly begins to resume its
natural processes. The snow starts melting and diamond crust starts disappearing rapidly.
Vasant Chitnis the main architect of this project breathed a sigh of relief .That relief however,
is short lived because he is acutely aware that to counter one disaster, he seemed to have
created another one-‘Global Warming’. The Ice Age had already reduced the human
population to a great extentand now with the ice melting at a good pace, heavy floods would
again cause severe casualties. The question towards the end of the story is whether mankind
would learn from this experience and continue to live in a spirit of unity and cooperation or
revert back to the old order of strife and rivalry.
Self check Questions
1. What according to Chitnis are the causes of the minor Ice Age?

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 2. How is the catastrophe reversed?
3. What elements of Science Fiction do you find in this story?
4. Critical Analysis
Jayant V Narlikar’s ‘The Ice Age Cometh’ is a narrative that revolves around the prediction
of a catastrophe and the prediction turning into reality. All the people around the world, who
are usually divided and ignorant on the issues related to environment, come together and
make an all out effort to prevent the impending doom.
The story explores how at times, a genius is crushed by the well-established scientific
minds. Vasant’s discoveries initially were not taken seriously and rejected. Later, when the
reality hit the world, the same sceptics not only come to believe in him but also approach him
for a solution to fight back against the disaster. Vasant as a scientist makes a mockery of the
peer review system, which coheres to the scientific doctrine of principles. Narlikar explicitly
criticizes the biases and prejudices of the scientific “establishment”:
“Vasant’s face carried fleeting shades of sarcasm and frustration before it became
featureless again as he continued, “You people think of us as perfect scholars in search of
knowledge for knowledge’s sake, undeterred by jealousies and temptations. It’s all bunkum!
We scientists are human. We possess all the weaknesses of the human mind. If the
establishment finds new discoveries unpalatable, those belonging to it will do everything to
suppress them. I had to water down my hypotheses, blur predictions in order to get some of
my ideas in print. The rest—those in manuscript form—were considered too crazy or
outlandish to be published.”
In the story, Narlikar also adds some elements of Hindu mythology. The project is
named as ‘The Invasion of Indra’ because Indra is the Vedic deity of the heavens, lightning,
thunder, rains and wars. Indra is also mankind’s friend because he brings sunshine and rains
to the earth by killing the Asura Vritra who prevents prosperity on earth. Vasant uses modern
weapons , the equivalent to Indra’s weapons to bring sunshine and to fight the diamond dust
which had led to Ice Age all around the world. The geo-stationary satellites are called the
Sanjayas of Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, Sanjaya was the person blessed with the ability to
see into all things. So, during the Mahabharata war, with this special sight he recited all
events happening on the battle ground to King Dhritrashtra. The geo-stationary satellites are
similarly responsible to inform the world whether their endeavors bear any fruit. These
satellites are used to deliver knowledge about the weather and the atmospheric changes
across the globe.
There is usage of certain Indian words like ‘Papadam’ in the narrative. Such words and
the Indian cultural and geographical setting give a sense of belongingness to the readers of
this narrative. The story is also a lesson to the readers that this fictional event might be a
reality someday. The lesson that one should learn through this story is that the earth is going
through a lot of changes primarily because of man’s greed, and the “delicate balance of the
eco-system” is constantly under threat. The whole world needs to come together to fight
unitedly against the uncertain and unknown doom by first identifying and eliminating
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thecauses, otherwise it might be too late. By the end of the story, we also realize that
everything comes at a cost; the Ice Age for the time being is stopped but the next big problem
is the fear of floods and other such disasters due to Global Warming and melting of ice
everywhere.
Self check questions
1. What is the criticism levelled by Chitnis against the scientific establishment?
2. Do you think the code name ‘Invasion of Indra’ is appropriate?