A Conversation Worth Remembering

That day, I was standing at the Balgandharva bus stop, waiting for my bus. It was around 4:00 PM. Since it was a working day, the stop wasn't very crowded. A pleasant breeze was blowing. Even though the bus stop was in the heart of the city, the towering trees and the gentle shower of leaves in the cool air instantly reminded me of my village. For a moment, I thought about how tranquil life could truly be. Suddenly, a sentence caught my ear, and my quiet mind began to think about it.

"But my question is, why does stress even happen in the first place? Everyone talks about how to manage stress, but I want to know where it actually comes from."

Such an interesting question, I said to myself! It was asked by a 15-year-old girl to her mother, which made my own mind start racing. 

"Okay, okay. Calm down," the mother replied." I read about this a while ago. Let me tell you something interesting. First, tell me—when you feel stressed, what else do you feel?"

"What do you mean?" the girl asked.

"Okay, let's try to understand it with an example. Exams?"

"Perfect!"

"So, when the tension of exams hits you, what else do you feel?"

"Ummm… 

The girl started thinking. And continued saying

I guess I feel like crying... I feel scared".

"Hmm. But does something happen just before that?" the mother probed.

"Oh! I never really thought about that."

"Think about it. When you realize an exam is coming, what kind of thoughts enter your mind?"

The girl went into deep thoughts. By the time I realized it, my bus had arrived and left; my attention was completely captured by their conversation.

"I think... sometimes I feel I won't be able to finish my studies. I may forget whatever I studied in the exam. What if I get low marks? Will I get scolded? Will the class laugh at me? Things like that," the girl said.

"Exactly," the mother said. "It means that when those thoughts arrive, then comes the fear and the tension. Right? Is that what happens?"

The girl paused, lost in thought again, and then exclaimed with surprise, "Oh yessss!"

“What would be the stress on the scale of five?,” the mother questioned. 

“Maybe 4”, the girl replied quietly.

"Now, here comes the interesting part," the mother continued. "In this situation, actually you decide how much tension to take and how much not to.

"What!!" the girl said in disbelief.

"Yes. An exam is just an exam. Some of your friends might be very tense about it, some might be moderately tense, and others might be barely bothered. Because their thoughts are different. If you look at the exam as a challenge or as a way to see how much you’ve actually understood the subject, and then to work on the challenging portion. In that case, on a scale of 1 to 5, how much tension do you feel now?"

The girl looked amazed while answering “maybe... 2."

She was genuinely surprised. "Wow, that’s actually interesting!"

I was stunned hearing this conversation. How beautiful! That dialogue was truly wonderful. I admired the girl for asking such a question and the mother for the way she discussed it. How beautiful the world would be if the general public discussed such things in order to help each other maintain mental health just as much as physical health. And most importantly, where people aren't afraid to ask for help.

My next bus arrived, and I boarded it to leave. But their conversation continued to linger in my mind long after I had gone.

~Neha Deshpande

Janurary 2026