Every day is a Mother's Day !!
This morning when I checked my cellphone for all the notifications, groggily, half asleep, all I could see was posts about "Mother's Day"!
People changing their Facebook and Whatsapp display pictures with the one's with their mom's and the statuses saying - I love my Ma, best mum in the world's, you are the greatest, etc. etc.
But, what is Mother's Day?
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the person, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day, Siblings Day, and Grandparents Day.
(source: Wikipedia || https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day)
In United States -
The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In 1872 Julia Ward Howe called for women to join in support of disarmament and asked for 2 June 1872, to be established as a "Mother's Day for Peace". Her 1870 "Appeal to womanhood throughout the world" is sometimes referred to as Mother's Day Proclamation. But Howe's day was not for honoring mothers but for organizing pacifist mothers against war. In the 1880's and 1890's there were several further attempts to establish an American "Mother's Day", but these did not succeed beyond the local level.
In the United States, Mother's Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and the like; Mother's Day is also the biggest holiday for long-distance telephone calls Moreover, churchgoing is also popular on Mother's Day, yielding the highest church attendance after Christmas Eve and Easter. Many worshipers celebrate the day with carnations, colored if the mother is living and white if she is dead.
Mother's Day continues to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions.
It is possible that the holiday would have withered over time without the support and continuous promotion of the florist industries and other commercial industries. Other Protestant holidays from the same time, such as Children's Day and Temperance Sunday, do not have the same level of popularity. Mother's Day is also prominent in the Sunday comic strips in the newspapers of the United States, expressing emotions ranging from sentimental to wry to caustic.
In India -
The modern Mother's Day has been assimilated into Indian culture, and it is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. Indians do not celebrate the occasion as a religious event, and it is celebrated primarily in urban centers.
(source: Wikipedia || https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day)
In U.S.A, after a kid turns 18 (sometimes, 16 or even 17) most of the kids move away from their parent's home and start their own life. They live away from home, family and hence seeing the parents is not something they do always.
Unlike in India, we stay with our family, that's what the culture we have been following since ages! We move out for job opportunities, post marriage or due to some reason, not because it is "cool" (Yes!! In USA if you are staying with parents at the age after 20, you are looked down upon, at least in most scenarios!).
In a country where kids have to take an appointment to meet their parents, this Mother's Day or even Father's Day is a reason for celebration.
Okay, so since we are following the "Western Culture" from Valentine's Day to the New Year's, I don't really mind celebrating these days, if that makes us get a little more close to our family/friends/beloved people. But what I have a question is on the days where we celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day or even Valentine's Day where we "show" to not these people but socially by posting a photo and writing a page long paragraphs, what are we trying to achieve? Likes, comments? or just acclaim our love for these people?
As per Wikipedia, the reason why the Mother's Day celebration started was for honoring the peace-making against the war.
Here, we celebrate, rather showcase that we are celebrating for society, at least most of them!
What I believe is that showing love needs no specific day!
If you stay with your parents, tell them you love them any day you want to, not on the day you want money or a special gift or a grand birthday party; if you're staying away from them, call them up and express your love or send a hand written letter! That would make them feel nice and bring a smile on their face.
However personal this point of view would be, I strongly believe, writing long captions about "how much you love mom" which she may or may not read it, instead, take her out for a walk or talk to her and ask her how is she doing. Ask her about life. Talk random things! Or watch a movie together, or theater if she likes that. Have a meal together or even better, cook together. There are so many ways to express love and gratitude to the lady who gave you life and not kill you when you were a little piece of flesh!
Okay, you do that and still want to showcase to the social world, I'd ask why? To show how much you love or spent "the day" with her or for a few like and comments?
I know some people who do not like their mom, they abuse her, say all possible crap about her or even worse "to" her, and then show their love on Social media. There are few friends of mine who have lost their mom (or dad) and when they see their entire Facebook feed full of such posts, where the entire world (read: friends) is posting photos or "selfies" with their mom, they feel sad, a void inside the chest and missing their parent, wishing to spend some more time with her and show her love and apologize for all those times when you were angry or stomped off and walked away!
Aai/Mom/Ma/Ammi (etc.) is not just One word or One person, it is an eternal bond; a bond between you as a child and her, blessed by God to give you One person with whom you can share everything and treat her with love and respect. She teaches us to talk, to count, to walk, to make decisions, your first morsel you eat, the first time you fall, she is there. All the time!
Yes, we would argue, we might walk off in anger, there would be difference of opinions, but do not, ever, say foul words to her. Not because you "have to" respect, but she is the reason of your sheer existence. If she was not there, you would not be there too.
She is the only person, who never gets retired from her job, her job as a Mother!
When she becomes a mom, she has to work between multiple roles of Mother of a child, a Wife and a Lover to her husband, a Daughter to her parents, and as a Daughter-in-law to her In-Laws (and the entire clad!).
If you a son, when you get married, she has to work for another role - a Mother of both you as well as your bride; if you are a daughter, she has a even critical role to play as she would bid you adieu and send you to a different family so you can play all these roles, she has been playing for years efficiently!
The entire world judges you from the way your mom has brought you up. If a daughter for some reason does not do a justice to her role in her in-laws, immediately, and ironically enough, another mother would criticize another mother! If the son mistreats his wife, again, a mother is questioned on her upbringing of her son! The answer to this, is still not found!
Okay, so now she is a daughter, a wife, a good daughter-in-law, a caring mom and even a nice mother-in-law, the next is where is becomes a Grandmother!
Ironically, in today's world, only few people treat this Grandmother, GRAND! She is treated as good (or should I say bad?) as a maid (or caretaker/babysitter). She is dumped with the new born baby where both the parents of this baby leave for making money.
Okay, so making money is "important", I understand, but at least do not dump that child and pressurize the mom to take care of it. One, if you are earning well enough, you can afford to keep the baby is day school or keep a full time maid for the baby and request mom to keep a watch on how the baby is treated by the appointed help. Two, if you are not earning well, in-spite both of you earning, do not just throw the baby's responsibility on your mom! She has been working the entire life, the least you can do is now let her take a rear seat and make her feel relaxed!
In most corporate companies, the maternity leave is given fr 3-6 months, considering the whole change would take a toll of the health and schedule. You can look for help options or make an arrangement with your partner so both the parents get time to spend and see the baby and also make (a lot) money!
Working mom or non-working, she never ever gets any rest! She is always working for the people around her, for her family and the extended families too.
She has to take care of all the relations and balance it well enough. Even on Sunday's when we and our dad chill in the Living Room of our houses, watch cricket or discuss politics/new cars, mom is cooking a nice breakfast, followed by lunch and finally the dinner. Working! Working! Working!!! ALL THE TIME!
I guess, if instead of uploading a photo with a Google(d) or a non-Google(d) status, ask her to take a day off, cook food for her, or order it form outside, or even better, take her for a lunch date followed by a movie or a shopping! Not only she would love the idea of a quick break from the routine, she would be relaxed and all pepped up for the next week after week after week full of work (house and/or office).
Let's just not "show", let's "express" love and gratitude to that One woman army who is strong as a wall and delicate as a flower!
Let's not take her for granted instead let's grant her with one of her wishes and make every day of her life as special as today!
THE END!
Note: This write-up is purely the Author's point of view. Do not comment anything foul on this. Reach out in case of any comments/suggestions! Thank you.
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