There is an episode in Hindu mythology in which God Murugan, being a cosmic child, would teach Pranava Mandhiram to his dad, God Shiva—one of the trinity of gods in Hinduism. Because he taught his dad, God Murugan got the title of ‘Thanthaiku Mandhiram Sonnavan’ (translation: The one who taught the sacred hymn to his dad).

With every passing hour of my battle with the itching sensations, I had a profound sense of respect for my son, similar to the reverence that a disciple would have for a Zen master. Maybe kids have an inherent optimism and chirpiness that guard them against such adversaries. That’s something that could not be matched by worn-out souls of forty-somethings. Nonetheless, I decided to use my son’s resolve as an inspiration. If he can manage to have a cast for seven weeks, I can at least try and manage for a week.

Somewhere in between all my ruminations, an insight hit me—I am facing my own version of the Marshmallow Test with a twist. Do I want to endure a lesser pain (cast) in the short term, or do I want to endure more severe pain (two possible surgeries and casts) in the long run?

I first heard about the Marshmallow Test in the TED talk ‘The Discipline of Finishing’ by Conor Neill. ‘The Marshmallow Study,’ or ‘The Marshmallow Test,’ is one of the most famous psychological studies of the second half of the twentieth century. This study was carried out between the late 1960s and early 1970s at Stanford University and was headed by a distinguished professor by the name of Walter Mischel. The key finding of the study is that the ability to delay gratification (self-discipline) in kids, more than intelligence, is a much better predictor of future success.

Once I realized that my situation was a version of the Marshmallow Test, which pain I needed to endure became clear to me. It’s relatively easy to have a moment of realization but very difficult to consistently act based on that insight. The short-term pains, like the real or imagined itching sensation on my left leg, are very concrete. They are effective in drawing our attention towards them. In contrast, long-term pains or gains are very vague, like a daydream. So, I used a combination of insights to come up with my coping mechanism.

In his TED talk, Conor Neil spoke about endurance high-performance athletes. They only worry about the immediate challenge in front of them—sometimes just about one step at a time. I decided not to think about the remaining five days before my next visit to the doctor. I decided not to think about an entire day, not an hour, not even a minute ahead. I decided that I will focus on what I will do when the itching sensation hits.

One of the key insights from the Marshmallow Test is that distraction is an effective strategy when faced with an immediate temptation. Kids who were able to succeed in the Marshmallow Test were able to come up with multiple ways to distract themselves from looking at the short-term temptation or prize in front of them. Whenever the itching sensation hit, I tried to distract my mind. I was mostly successful. We usually consider distraction to be a bane. But, without the ability to get distracted from adversities and bad luck, we would be constantly ruminating about them and pretty soon end up as a nervous wreck.

The human mind is very resilient and tends to cope very well with adversities. After a couple of days, there were only fewer instances of itching sensations and the urge to scratch. I also noticed that mostly the itching sensation subsided after a few seconds even if I didn’t scratch.

In addition, the grip of the cast also loosened in a couple of days. This reduced the episodes of itching sensations further. In fact, the grip loosened so much that I had to see the doctor a couple of days ahead of schedule, as I was worried that the cast was no more effective. The doctor mentioned that it was normal for the cast to become loose with each passing day. He tightened the cast by tying a gauze cloth around it. I felt uncomfortable for the rest of the day but was pretty much unbothered from the next day. I am reminded about a comment by one of my professors during MBA days: “The mind is like a parachute. It works only when it is open.” Once I decided that I wanted to have the cast for the entire duration that the doctor prescribed it, I was able to come up with coping mechanisms against the discomfort of the cast. I did not stand in the way of my well-being.

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This essay is part 4 of the 5-part personal essay series – Agonizing over a cast

Part 1: https://yogesvr.xyz/2025/10/05/agonizing-over-a-cast-the-crybaby/

Part 2: https://yogesvr.xyz/2025/10/21/agonizing-over-a-cast-the-bad-news/

Part 3: https://yogesvr.xyz/2025/10/22/agonizing-over-a-cast-conjuring-up-scenarios/

Part 5:  https://yogesvr.xyz/2025/10/24/agonizing-over-a-cast-painting-our-own-rainbow/