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.