Six friends are sitting in a circle and are facing the centre of the circle.…

CONCEPT

In a circular arrangement, the whole circle may be rotated without changing any neighbour or opposite relationship. Fix one person at a convenient reference seat, then place an opposite person three seats away in a six-person circle.

When a person is stated to be between two others, that person occupies the middle of three consecutive seats and is adjacent to both named people.

APPLICATION

1. Fix Prakash at 12 o’clock. Since Prakash and Mukesh are opposite, place Mukesh at 6 o’clock.

2. Deepa must sit between Prakash and Pankaj. Choose the clockwise orientation Prakash → Deepa → Pankaj, which places Deepa at 2 o’clock and Pankaj at 4 o’clock.

3. Priti must sit between Mukesh and Lalit. The remaining consecutive seats force Priti at 8 o’clock and Lalit at 10 o’clock.

4. The two seats immediately beside Mukesh at 6 o’clock are 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock, occupied by Pankaj and Priti.

5. Reversing the entire circle gives the mirror arrangement but preserves the same two neighbours for Mukesh.

CROSS-CHECK / CONTRAST

• Prakash and Deepa occupy 12 o’clock and 2 o’clock; these are consecutive near the top of the circle.

• Deepa and Priti occupy 2 o’clock and 8 o’clock; they lie on different sides of the circle.

• Priti and Pankaj occupy 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock; these are the two seats immediately beside 6 o’clock.

• Lalit and Priti occupy 10 o’clock and 8 o’clock; these are consecutive on the lower-left side.

Therefore, Mukesh’s neighbours are Priti and Pankaj.