Book Excerpt: ‘2040: The Battle for Life’ Talks About A Possible Catastrophe

The book is set in 2040 in a media house reporting on an ‘International emergency’ due to a mother of all disasters.

The book’s story is based in the near future and is about a possible catastrophe.

Pic Courtesy: The Author

The author, Sanjay Mittal is an alumnus of the Delhi College of Engineering. He divides his time between constructing modern, eco-friendly buildings during the day and researching at night on the link between the force of Gravity and Life.

2040 : The Battle for Life has been published by Alcove Publishers in January 2023 and is now available online and in bookstores.

The book’s story is based in the near future and is about a possible catastrophe. What may happen and how the world needs to fight it out is what the story is about. The plot is set in the year 2040 in a media house, which is reporting on the world being gripped in an ‘International emergency’ mode—terrorists have placed bio terror vials and nukes in 30 cities across the world. Will the world be able to avert the mother of all disasters? Though presented as a romantic thriller, the novel is inspired by Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. It has all the elements to entertain the reader, like romance, humour, a plausible plot and a scorching pace.

2040 : The Battle for Life is genre defying. The author says he was just writing a story which needed to be told. So if you are looking into the issues of our future, there is enough on science, politics, art and technology in the book which should keep you interested. The future is dealt in some detail, in an all embracing manner.

Beyond the plot, the novel delves into issues like the possibility of extinction of life, climate change and how AI may create new despots. It explores how, now like never before, we have the daunting power and destructive technologies to extinguish all life from the planet and we may end up doing so.

Lord Meghnad Desai, who has written the Foreword to the book, has given it a huge thumbs up. He writes that this is “An exciting story set in the future” and also looks into the “question of the ultimate purpose of all human endeavor”. In his opinion the book also searchingly looks into the conditions which created life and causes of religion, politics and the environment and how they can be used to obliterate life.

Scroll down for some fascinating excerpts from the book.

Excerpt 1:

Chapter 1

When I look back, the chain of events which had shaken up India and parts of the world, had started so innocuously, so casually, that it could have been just another day. I believe in being upbeat, taking risks and then enjoying the idea that you are alive today and need to make the most of it. Little did I know that soon my life was about to be entangled in what can truly be termed as the mother of all emergencies, where my life and that of yours, as well as countless others, was at risk.

Nobody would have imagined in 2023 that 2040 would be such a deadly year. I was fifteen in 2023 and had started taking interest in world events. As I had lived through 2030 and 2035, I had seen the world swing between good and bad times. I always believed that the good guys would somehow win.

But then 2040 happened.
That cold day of December 2040 was the day where it all began...

xxx

When Rohit Singh walked into his office on the 66th floor of the World Live Media Multiplex in Gurugram, he was in a pensive mood. He had just got off the automated self-driving pod which had flown him directly from his home to the hub, his own floor space in the MwM News channel office. A slim man, just under six feet in height, and dressed in a blue suit for his news anchoring spot, Rohit always believed in radiating enthusiasm. But...

Why am I so edgy today? He took a deep breath and looked at the rows upon rows of desks where men and women—at least thirty of them—working on the computers, getting the last edits in, were giving final touches for 5D hologram telecasts.

The newsroom is my high, my nasha, my life... and I love being here! He quickly reminded himself. And at thirty-two I have at least twenty more years before I burn out at this hectic pace. He smiled politely as Debu, his faithful, workaholic news editor, who sported a trimmed beard, had started walking along with him to accompany him to his cabin, then nodded at the two interns who wished him.

This is the high-voltage current I need every day.

He walked past Mini, the robot secretary dutifully working outside his cabin, hearing the pleasant mechanical good evening. And then took his chair behind his sleek oval desk. Two more people from the newsroom joined him around the table.

“Boss, we have forty minutes before we go live. All the stories have been neatly stacked up. However, there is a big international story developing.” Debu addressed him, his neatly trimmed bearded face, breaking into a terse smile. “More violence breaking out in the Middle East and a mysterious terror group has threatened to crash nuclear equipped drones at various places in the world. More news on this is coming through.”

Violence was no longer news as far as they were concerned. The danger was the intensity. Since 2020 terror groups had started using drones and then added nuclear technology and over the next 20 years they had used such highly remote and destructive methods to make ever-increasing territorial claims.

“Does this impact the current line-up of stories? Remember, our focus is still on the big build-up for December 31, 2050, soft stories on how we are almost midway to a brave new world!”

A brave new world. Am I being flippant about the colossal dangers of the current international scenario? He tossed this thought out of his mind too.

“Rohit, our loyalty is to the news and events. So, the danger of war comes first,” Priyanka Grover, one of his team of content writers pointed out. “Anyway, it is the same world. Nothing new. Just our bravery overpowered by foolishness.”

He knew that was coming. Priyanka, like him, was a news junkie and just four years younger. She had short black hair, was five foot five inches and had a perked-up nose. She had left a career in banking to be part of the daily exhausting, invigorating grind of news media. He loved to fight each news issue with her. There was an undercurrent of mutual attraction too, in the debates.

“Yes, a foolish new world! Happy?” He gave a laugh. As he looked into her deep brown eyes he, like always, felt there was a degree of promise. “Anyway, it’s not for us to reason why. We are the fly on the wall. Just reporting what is happening.”

Debu brought the subject back to the immediate. “The dangers of further nuclear contamination increase in case this terrorist group unloads its nukes through drones and missile systems. They are also claiming that they have biotechnology and a virus that can clear out countries of people without damaging anything. The UN is going to have an emergency session in the next three hours on how to tackle this.”

“Any danger to India?” Rohit asked quickly.
“Not immediately but it’s a connected world. Nuclear or viral contamination spreads faster than it can be contained,” Debu said seriously. “And remember Covid-19... it started from Wuhan in China and swept all the countries of the globe leaving behind a huge amount of dead.”

Of course, Rohit remembered. He was twelve then. The relentless news coverage and repeated lockdowns were part of his memory. “Take this up as the lead story. After that, the feel-good stuff will follow. The mid-century paradise as we move towards 2050 and the twenty-second century.”

He measured his words, then added, “We could do a counter story too. 2050: The Earth vs Earthlings! The planet and the human species with clashing agendas.”

EXCERPT 2:

Chapter 4

How calmly he asks these questions? I was trying to understand his words. Were they just rhetoric, thrown for effect? Or have we reached the stage of evolution where we can actually exterminate each other and maybe most species on the planet. One thing I know from experience. The unexpected can happen.

So many of us keep joking that there are anyway too many people on earth. Not because of natural selection or evolution, but because some scientist discovered how to fix nitrogen in the soil so multiple crops could be grown while other scientists discovered how to beat disease.

So I needed to take these guys seriously. I always believe that in the world, good always outweighs evil. Though in the short term, evil can certainly destroy a lot. I looked at my team...

xx x

Once the question was thrown at them, the mood became sombre. Rohit and the Network team moved around the Future project site making notes, taking interviews and random shots, wherever they were allowed to do so.

As they moved around in a reflective mood, now partly convinced of the need for the Future Project, Rohit gently joked, “All this is mind-boggling stuff. Wonder what becomes of the old-fashioned means of reproducing and us conventional human beings!”

Priyanka responded with a laugh, “I bet you are already dreaming of creating five new upgraded versions of yourself!” It was then that Rohit got a call on his mobile.

“May I?” He apologetically asked the scientists and flicked on the projection screen of the mobile.

It was Shiva, their editorial director.

“Rohit, please wind up whatever you are doing in the next ten minutes,” Shiva said in a quick rasp of a command. “There has been a dirty nuclear bomb explosion about twenty minutes back on an island off the coast of Africa.”

A nuclear bomb explosion! Rohit tried to come to grips with the situation. So did the other members of his team who were now listening in rapt attention.

“Where? How big is it?” He shot back.

Shiva’s voice was still calculatedly calm. “It’s a dirty bomb. Probably a seventy-kilo nuke. This is NOT in India. But it is going to affect us all.”

“The Prime Minister is going to address the nation within an hour on the situation developing internationally. Then there will be a media conference. I expect you and the team to be here in Delhi, ASAP.”

Rohit’s breath quickened, “A nuclear bomb, even a dirty small bomb means that the threshold has been crossed! What does it mean for all of us?”

As soon as Shiva’s call got disconnected, he turned towards his team members and the two scientists who had been listening to the conversation.

Dr Krishnan Kutty immediately commented, his concern written all over his face. “Never underestimate the foolishness of the human race. I think we will have to use the Future Project, sooner than we ever imagined.”

Even as the meaning of the nuclear explosion was sinking in, the team shook hands with the scientists and rushed towards their aircraft.

This was a literal jolt back to the immediate reality. That, dark clouds of an International emergency were floating over all of them. The Indian PM was a great communicator and his press conference could not be missed.

Debu tried to lighten the tension. “At least Shiva has given us ten minutes to wind up and fly back. The last time he had called up, he gave me one minute to wind up and I had just entered the washroom then!” Then the newsman in him took over. “A nuclear dirty bomb! This is the beginning of the end!”

xx x

How do I handle this? Is there any danger to India? What is the extent of the damage? So many thoughts were rushing through my mind.

The contours of an international emergency became apparent to the team as they flew back to Delhi. Rohit had been asked by Shiva to anchor the show. He quickly ran over the information which was available.

EXCERPT 3:

INTERLUDE

As you create conditions to damage me, do remember that it is you who will not survive. I will.

It is me who gave you birth and not you who created me. I will live on.

You can survive only in certain physical and chemical conditions. I will survive in any condition, so it is for you to see
what you must do.

You will not survive the heat or lack of water. I will

You will exterminate your species trying to force your beliefs.
I will create another species like I have done so many times before. For I am the eternal mother.

I am the Earth.