Read the passage and answer the questions given below it.
By ten o’clock the terrace floor was too hot for bare feet, so Aarav stood on an old cotton sari while Dadi sat cross-legged in the one strip of shade. Between them, on a steel tray, lay the raw mangoes she had cut at dawn, each piece still holding a sliver of hard white stone.
“Write it down properly this year,” his mother had said. So Aarav had his phone out and a fresh note open.
“How much salt, Dadi?”
“Enough.”
“Enough is not a quantity.”
She laughed and pushed the bowl towards him. “Then taste and find out.”
The note did not get much longer. The fenugreek was roasted until the smell told her to stop, and the chilli went in until the colour looked right. Dadi’s measures lived in her fingertips. Aarav was moved to crow duty with a broom and spent twenty minutes losing an argument with one crow on the water tank.
The oil came last. Dadi had carried the heavy jar up two flights of stairs herself and waved away his help. Now she held it out to him. He tipped it too fast, and oil splashed onto the tray. She did not take the jar back. She only rested two fingers on his wrist, and the stream thinned to a slow gold thread.
They tied muslin over the jar and set it in the corner that got the most sun. It would cure there for a week. Aarav looked at the three lines on his screen and put the phone in his pocket. Then he pressed a finger into the spice left on the tray and tasted it, frowning, the way she did.
How does Aarav most likely feel when Dadi answers “Enough”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Mildly frustrated, since he wants an exact amount that he can write down
Aarav wants a number for his note, and Dadi does not give him one.
- His mother has asked him to “write it down properly”, so he has a note open on his phone.
- He replies, “Enough is not a quantity.” A quantity is an amount that can be measured. His reply is a small protest. Mildly frustrated means a little annoyed because he cannot get what he wants.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Hurt, as he thinks Dadi does not want to share her recipe with him — Incorrect. Misread: Dadi is not hiding anything. She laughs and pushes the salt bowl towards him so that he can taste it himself.
Option 3: Bored, because the slow work on the terrace has begun to tire him — Incorrect. Not mentioned: At this point Aarav is eager. He is asking questions and taking notes. Nothing shows that he is tired of the work.
Option 4: Worried that his mother will scold him if his notes are not complete — Incorrect. Not mentioned: His mother did ask him to write the recipe down. But the passage never says he fears her anger.