Sundar runs 20 metres towards the east and then turns to his right and runs 10 metres. Next, he turns to the right again and runs 9 metres. Again he turns to the right and runs 5 metres. After this, he turns to the left and runs 12 metres and finally he turns to the right and runs 6 metres. Towards which cardinal direction is Sundar finally facing?

Introduction / Context:
The focus of this question is not the final position but the final facing direction of Sundar after a sequence of runs and turns. He starts by moving east and then repeatedly turns right or left and runs certain distances. Such problems strengthen the ability to track orientation step by step, which is important in the direction sense portion of verbal reasoning tests.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Sundar first runs 20 metres towards the east.
• He then turns right and runs 10 metres.
• He turns right again and runs 9 metres.
• He turns right once more and runs 5 metres.
• Next, he turns left and runs 12 metres.
• Finally, he turns right and runs 6 metres.
• We use the usual convention: right turn is clockwise relative to the current facing, left turn is anticlockwise.

Concept / Approach:
We are only asked about the final facing direction, so exact coordinates are not required. The strategy is to track Sundar's orientation after each turn. Starting from east, we know that a right turn takes him to south, another right to west, and another right to north. Then a left from north returns him to west, and a final right from west takes him back to north. Keeping a small compass sketch handy is very helpful for such stepwise orientation tracking.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Sundar begins by running east, so his initial facing direction is east.Step 2: He turns right from east, which makes him face south, and he runs 10 metres. Distance is not important for orientation.Step 3: He turns right again from south, which makes him face west, and he runs 9 metres.Step 4: He turns right once more from west, which makes him face north, and he runs 5 metres.Step 5: He then turns left from north, which makes him face west, and runs 12 metres.Step 6: Finally, he turns right from west, which makes him face north, and runs 6 metres.Step 7: At the end of all movements, Sundar is therefore facing north.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can summarise the sequence of directions as follows: start east, then south, then west, then north, then west, then north. At each turn we rotate by 90 degrees either clockwise or anticlockwise depending on right or left. Tracing this on a small compass diagram confirms that the final orientation is north. Because distances do not alter orientation, any confusion about the lengths of the segments will not affect this conclusion.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
East would be correct only if there were an even number of right angle turns bringing Sundar back to his original orientation, which is not the case here. West and south appear as intermediate facing directions but are not the last one after the full sequence. South east is a diagonal direction and would require non right angle turns or partial rotations, which do not occur anywhere in the problem. Only north matches the final direction reached after processing all given turns.

Common Pitfalls:
One common mistake is to attempt to track both distance and direction simultaneously, which can lead to overload and errors. Focus should remain on the orientation only. Another pitfall is mixing up left and right when the person is facing south or west, because the mental picture has rotated. Using a fixed compass drawing and marking each step is an effective way to avoid these issues.

Final Answer:
After completing all the runs and turns, Sundar is finally facing towards the North.