Comprehension:
Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The Mysore City Corporation building stood close to the palace and Janani and Vinod had been taken to the palace on the very day of their arrival, Sesha Uncle hurrying them along as if royalty itself were under threat and some fairy godmother had warned that come midnight, the palace would turn into a pumpkin. It was in the hope of tracing the official records of a writer’s house that they had come to the corporation that morning. The corporation was housed in an ornate building with domes that resembled those of the palace. The exterior was painted the colour of egg yolk – pale yellow, with cornices in white. The crown molding was a cheery mix of red and maroon that matched the colour on the domes. It was hard to tell if the people who thronged the external corridors and the inner hallways were employees or members of the public.
Sesha Uncle and his entourage wandered around the labyrinthine hallways, peering into a honeycomb maze of dusty offices. Janani was glad Sesha Uncle and Rukmini Aunty had insisted on coming with her and Vinod. She was thrilled at the prospect of entering a den of intrigue. The reality was more banal: a cavernous room where sunlight filtered weakly through cracked glass, dust drifting lazily in the air. Clerks sat behind desks, some glued to their phones, others chatting. Files lay in precarious towers, abandoned mid-fall, as though the building itself had given up on order.
Sesha Uncle found a clerk. Leaning in conspiratorially, he launched into a winding comparison between Mysore and Hannibal, Missouri. If Americans could preserve Mark Twain’s house, he argued, surely Mysore could honour its greatest writer too. Sesha Uncle then asked about the ownership of R.K. Narayan’s house, only to be redirected to another desk, empty because the responsible official was on personal leave for a festival. Mustering up whatever dignity he had left, Sesha Uncle hustled everyone out of the office. On the way home, he unleashed a torrent of abuse at the bureaucracy and its indifference to writers, and by the time they reached the house, Rukmini Aunty declared the subject finished and insisted on eating her lunch in peace.
According to the passage, what does the clerks' behaviour inside the office suggest about bureaucracy?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → They are indifferent, casual and resistant to urgency.
The clerks are "glued to their phones, others chatting", files lie "in precarious towers", and the official in charge is away on leave. Sesha Uncle later attacks the bureaucracy's "indifference to writers". The picture is of offices that do not care and are in no hurry.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: They are efficient but understaffed. — Incorrect. Contradicted: clerks chatting and files left half-fallen show no efficiency, and there is no sign of too few staff.
Option 2: They are overworked and sympathetic to visitors. — Incorrect. Contradicted: clerks busy with their phones are not overworked, and Sesha Uncle is just sent to an empty desk, which shows no sympathy.
Option 4: They are intimidated by citizens seeking information. — Incorrect. Contradicted: the clerks are unconcerned, not afraid of the visitors.