Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
The municipality’s notice had been on the electric pole for three weeks, and the rain had washed most of it away. Only the date was still clear. The road below the bus stand was to be widened, and the tea stall that had stood on that bend for forty-one years would come down in the morning.
Nimmi had planned the evening for days. A board in chalk, a free glass for every regular, perhaps a few words from her grandfather. He heard her out and then said no to all of it. “People come here for tea,” he said. “Not for a funeral.”
So she did what she did every summer evening. She rinsed the glasses in the bucket, crushed ginger with the flat of the knife and counted the change into the biscuit tin. Tonight she made the tea herself. The postman came at five and grumbled, as always, that the tea was too sweet. Two taxi drivers argued about a run-out. A hostel boy bought one rusk with one-rupee coins. Her grandfather served them all with a studied calm, took every coin and gave back the exact change. Nobody said a word about tomorrow. Nimmi found she was angry with all of them, and could not have said why.
At seven the cloud came down over the ridge and the last bus left. Her grandfather put out the stove and wiped the counter, all the way into the corners. Then he stood looking at the empty bench.
“You made it too strong today,” he said at last. “Just as your grandmother used to.”
He took down the dented saucepan and put it in her hands. It was still warm. She did not trust herself to answer.
What does the grandfather’s answer to Nimmi’s plans show about him?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Restrained: he will not turn his loss into a show and keeps the last evening an ordinary one
The grandfather feels the loss, but he does not want any fuss about it.
- Restrained means keeping one’s feelings under control.
- He says no to the board, the free tea and the speech. He says, “Not for a funeral.” He does not want the evening to look like a time of mourning.
- He serves everyone as on any other day. But his words about the grandmother at the end show that he does feel the loss.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Indifferent: after forty-one years, the closing of the stall means little to him — Incorrect. Contradicted: Indifferent means not caring at all. At the end he stands looking at the empty bench and remembers his wife. The stall means a lot to him.
Option 3: Thrifty: he does not wish to lose a day’s earnings by giving away free tea — Incorrect. Wrong reason: Thrifty means careful with money. He does take every coin. But he gives his own reason for saying no: the stall is “Not for a funeral.”
Option 4: Bitter: he feels that his regulars have done nothing to save the stall — Incorrect. Not mentioned: He never blames his customers. He serves them calmly and gives back the exact change.