The value (price) of pain with Soba-chicken-noodle-soup

A-junior has bad luck with his teeth. For whatever reasons, his milk teeth refuse to fall out on their own. They want to stay with him forever.

This decision of theirs is totally unknown to the permanent teeth who are lined up already to come out and face the world. Most of them start their journey and find their path being blocked by very stubborn milk teeth who refuse to budge and give way.

This brings the dentist into our life in a permanent sort of way. 

Each and every milk teeth needs to be pulled out.

Painful. No doubt about that.

But what can we do?

After every such event, the dentist usually offers a little something like a small toothpaste or a magnet to pacify him. The parents also promise something, the thought of which helps him to face the pain in a better way and the recovery process goes faster. That "something" started off a bit big during the first such session (mom was in total panic mode when the howling 7-yr old looked accusingly at her as if to say "why are YOU doing this to me?"). So a toy was bought to make the child happy. However, later on as the story of the stubborn milk teeth gradually unfurled, the Mom realized that this is going to be more 'routine'. At some point of time it became so 'routine' that the budget for the "something" got substantially reduced. (I agree, how mean of a mother!!)

Time flew.....

After eight such stubborn milk teeth came a super stubborn one.

Meanwhile the mouth has been through some changes as well. It is now the proud owner of braces with hopes and promises of perfectly aligned white teeth in future which will win as many hearts as he can handle, I hope.

Due to this super stubborn milk tooth, a new character call the "gum surgeon" got introduced into the saga of the 'Stubborn Milk Teeth'. His title sounded so scary that I cannot blame the little boy when his face lost all colour on hearing this new development. The event, because of the complexity, had to be planned not at the dentist's, but at the hospital.

The day came, the event happened, the boy cried, the mom panicked, the dad pretended to be cool.

All ended well.

.....and then it was time for the pain compensation 'something'.

We came back home and opened an online toy store and he started looking for the toy he wanted. I, generously gave him a budget of 20 euros. After all, this time it was complicated!! A-junior, after considerable surfing could only find something of his liking of 32.99 euro.

Nothing else appealed to him. 
This "Transformer" character has been his dream character for a while, etc etc.

Mom reminded him of his budget constraint.

No, but this character can actually shoot small transformer weapons even!!!

Mom reminded the 20 euros again.

Mom:  But I really feel that the whole gum surgeon event was not THAT big. I think the pain was worth about 20 euros.

A-junior (tears filled up his eyes, tears of sadness mixed with tears of anger): But Mom, how do YOU know the pain I went through? I am 100% sure that the pain was of 32.99 euros!!!!!!

I shut up.
Knowing the price(value) of pain, even to the second decimal place is incredible!

Indeed who am I to judge the value of pain? especially the pain which I myself have not experienced?

Dear friends, this is no joke. I became very philosophical after this dialogue, had three more glasses of wine and tried to ponder deeply on this subject. Every time, the question took me deeper and deeper into the matter and I needed another glass to help me......

Before losing myself into the philosophy of life and everything complicated, let me cook some food. Food is needed for everything...

.....and drinks...also needed for everything.

;-)

Chicken Soba soup with Bok choy

I have lived in Japan for a long time. This dish took me years back to Japan, the same fresh taste, the same flavour, the same moments .....warm nostalgia in a bowl.

Ingredients:

• Soba noodles
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 carrots sliced
• 3 baby bak choy (sliced into two)
• 4 cloves of garlic chopped
• 200 gms of chicken strips
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2-3 tbsp soya sauce
• Chicken or Vegetable broth (Water is also fine)
• Black pepper

Ready steady cook

• Boil the soba noodles for 3-4 mins , drain with cold water  and keep aside.
• In a pan add the olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and the onions. Saute for a while.
• Add the chicken and the carrots. Fry for a while and add the bokchoy.
• Add the seasonings (salt, cayenne pepper, soya sauce, black pepper).
• Add the stock and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
• Put the soba in a bowl and pour the soup on top. Serve hot hot hot.

The exam season and some "flash back"

Yesterday while listening to a conversation of exam-worried mothers (my friends) on Whatsapp, I had a 'flash-back' moment.

Although for me, the board-exam-worried-mother phase is yet to begin [A-junior is still going to elementary school with a lunchbox and a water bottle], but I know that there is no escape. Especially, having studied in that system (in India), I totally  understand what the moms are going through.

Roles have changed. Now, we have become the mothers of the examinees and that is a very different feeling from being the examinee ourselves (this is true irrespective of country, system or culture).

There is stress in both cases but the 'type' of stress is different.

The examinee thinks  'will I be able to answer the questions'?

The Mother thinks "will he be able to answer the questions? Did he study enough? He is always on the ipad, when did he study? Will he have a good future? Am I too strict? How can I help him keep focus? Where can I ...? How can I ....? When can I ..?"

[I can fill the whole page with questions that race through her mind]

The stress is 'different'  .....

On Whatsapp, I wished my friend's son all the best saying "Physics is a piece of cake, cool" and asked my friend to "chillax"!!
In my heart, I went back to my days of stress....drifted into some "flash back " moments.......

Subject: Physics.

Time: Class 12th, pre-board exam

I was terribly stressed. The chapters Heat, Light and Electricity were to blame. So many problems, so many diagrams, so much theory! Really felt like the most difficult day of my life, Physics exam.

After the usual "baba ma ke pronam and doi -er tip"[blessings from parents and yogurt for good luck], I left for the examination hall. 
(Even today, when I am writing about it on my blog for fun, it still gives me the goose bumps, ha ha!). 
Anyway, the bell rang and the question papers were distributed. I quickly glanced through the paper. First glance told me that I knew most of the answers quite well. The good news was there were no problems from the chapters Heat and Electricity! Phew, what a relief, almost too good to be true! 

My pen started rolling. Since most problems were relatively known and within my comfort zone, I took time to draw nice diagrams with all answers, drew straight margins and tried to continue in the best of my handwriting..slow and steady. I even sharpened my pencil once or twice.  Having successfully finished my paper, I walked out of the hall, confident and happy. While riding back home, together with a friend, she asked, "Could you answer the question on coefficient of thermal expansion ?"
I fell from the sky. 
"But there were no questions on heat and electricity", I replied back.

My friend gave me a shocked look and said "What?? About half the questions were from those two chapters!!"

I could not believe my ears.....Hastily took out the question paper from my bag and glanced again. She took the paper from my hands and turned it! Next page had 5 questions on heat and electricity!

In my super-stress-converted-to-super-relief state of mind, I did not turn the page.

I had only answered/attempted half the questions.....

The world around me started becoming hazy as tears filled up my eyes.........
Managed to 'just' pass.

Subject: Physics.

Time: BSc, final exam

Again terrible stress. Exam time. Girls studying everywhere. Home sickness. Power cut. Candles. Mosquitoes. Hostel mess serving shitty food --gourd curry and rice, thats it!

(have to build up the sympathy factor among my readers to make them relate to my stress). 
Parents were not around, so no 'baba ma ke pronam' but friends made sure that we had the 'doi-er phonta' [yogurt luck]. 

A bit of digression here...have to say that friends in hostel become more than family.

The exam hall was as usual - tense.

Question papers were distributed. One quick glance and I realized that I did not know the answers to most of the questions. Read it again, as if reading it twice would trigger the 'light bulb' moment. Still blank. No clue where to start. Heart pounded so loudly .....I was certain everyone could hear it. I did not even dare to look up from my paper fearing that everyone else had started writing. I tried a few seconds of 'ooommmm' with closed eyes and then looked at the question paper again. Still the same unknown questions. Then I heard a hustle beside me. Looked up and saw a friend of mine submitting the answer paper and leaving the room. Within 5 mins another girl left. Looked around to see more blank faces like mine....I did not have the guts to leave a blank answer paper.
Focus focus, there must be something .......you have studied, girl!
There was one question which (on repeated reading) started to feel vaguely familiar.  A tangent galvanometer problem. I tried to solve the problem and then as an after thought wrote about all the different types of galvanometers I studied. 
;-)
At some point of time the stress vanished (surrendered to fate), a new nirvana sort of feeling kicked in and I found a few more things to write.
Have no clue how I managed to pass that paper......

Subject: Physics.

Time: MSc, 1st year
This incident actually comes from borrowed memory of my roomie-best-friend M. During our exam related discussion on whatsapp yesterday, she asked me how could I ever forget my stress during the master's exams?
I do not remember much of it. She does because she was my room mate...and am sure she had her Botany exams that day too!!;-))
Apparently I had serious stress for that paper (must be Electronics) and went for the exams already with a long face. Came back crying ...exams went very bad.  She said 'half of the hostel was there in our room in the evening to comfort you, you were so heart broken'.
;-))

How can a person with such a history even dare to say  "Physics is a piece of cake" and  "chillax"??
The only reason she can is because for her exams are "over" and she is not going to take one single exam anymore ..........kuch bhi ho jaye....
hihihihihi..hahahaha...hohohoho.....

I do not have a recipe today. 
Instead, let me share a photo from my camera which is so serene, so peaceful, so relaxing.....am sure will help to cope with some of your stress, specially if you are a mom and a Physics exam is coming up.....

photo: www.pinterest.com