Please consider the excerpt below.
I felt awkward discussing such issues with Aarti’s dad, so I kept quiet.
“I know how the education business works, Tiwari talks intellectual,
but he wants his share. I hope you guys won’t get me involved with that.”
“Not at all, sir,” I said. “Even I don’t deal with that stuff. I only look after the college.”
“So all such work is done by Shukla-ji’s men?” Aarti’s father asked.
“Yes,” I said, as I ____ at the floor.
I need little help how the words stare and gaze changes the meaning of sentence in the given context. Please find below the dictionary (ODO) meanings of those words:
Stare = look fixedly or vacantly at someone or something with one’s eyes wide open.
Gaze = look steadily and intently, especially in admiration, surprise, or thought.
Best Answer
I suppose "I" (is that still Gopal?) is feeling awkward or embarrassed and looking downwards to avoid meeting Aarti's father's eye.
In such an instance, the idiom is to stare at the floor. From the dictionary definitions you give, Gopal is looking fixedly at the floor, probably at a particular point. A gaze is less focused; Gopal would gaze at Aarthi across a crowded room — it's the admiration or thought part of the definition which makes the difference.