Directions: Study the following information carefully and answer the question given below.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
In the sun-baked courtyard of Bagru on the fringes of the Thar Desert, Master Dyer Mohanlal knelt beside earthen vats sunken deep into the limestone earth. His hands, stained a permanent midnight blue up to the elbows, moved with rhythmic reverence through the pungent liquid. Unlike the synthetic aniline dyes favored by commercial textile mills in Ahmedabad, Mohanlal’s indigo was an organic, living ecosystem. It required weeks of anaerobic fermentation with slaked lime, jaggery, and crushed acacia seeds. A novice might see only murky greenish scum floating on the surface; Mohanlal could smell the precise hour when the microbial flora were ripe, producing the elusive bronze-tinted foam known to master dyers as the 'indigo flower'.
His elder son, educated in industrial chemistry at a technical institute, frequently urged Mohanlal to adopt standardized sodium dithionite powders to accelerate the dyeing cycle from days into minutes. Mohanlal smiled with melancholic patience. 'Chemicals force the cloth into compliance,' he remarked softly, wringing a freshly dyed cotton sheet that emerged greenish-yellow before blooming into radiant ultramarine as oxygen touched the fibers. 'Natural indigo does not conquer the fabric; it enters into a spiritual contract with the cotton thread. Chemical dyes fade into chalky dullness under harsh sunlight, but organic indigo deepens with washing, taking on the silver sheen of desert moonlight as the garment ages.' Watching his son calculate profit margins on a clipboard, Mohanlal dipped his weathered hands back into the cool, dark abyss of the vat.
Why did Master Dyer Mohanlal refuse to adopt synthetic sodium dithionite powders to accelerate his dyeing process?
💡 Solution & Explanation:
Correct Answer: (C)
Core Concept: Reading Comprehension — Character Philosophy
Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Paragraph 2 explains: 'Chemicals force the cloth into compliance... Natural indigo does not conquer the fabric; it enters into a spiritual contract with the cotton thread.'
2. Mohanlal valued the authentic craft and natural living process over chemical shortcuts.
3. Option (C) accurately captures this rationale.
Key Shortcut / Exam Tip: Chemical force vs spiritual contract between organic dye and cloth.