Directions: Select the most appropriate fillers for the blanks such that the sentence makes coherent sense.

From 1878 to 1880, Tagore studied law in England and in 1890, having returned to India, he took charge of his father's estate, where he saw ________ the suffering and backwardness of India's rural poor and grew to love the ________ of the Indian countryside.

Let's look at the second option first. One would love either the 'serenity' or 'landscapes' of India and not 'sufferings' or 'pangs' (shame). 'Blaring' (to sound out with loud, harsh, trumpet-like tones) is out of context. Therefore, options (1), (3) and (5) are ruled out. 'Serenity' of the Indian countryside is more appropriate than 'landscapes' of the Indian countryside. Moreover, 'firsthand' conveys more sense to the context than 'gradually' on replacing the first blank. Hence, (2) is the answer.