Today is the day greeting card companies and people in advertising decided mothers MUST be celebrated.
Unlike other festivals and holidays, a special day dedicated to cherishing your mother has no origin in any religion, as far as I know. It never existed as a special occasion before the 1900s.
Maybe because there never was any need for one.
Every day a mother gets a hug,
every day a mother is told a secret,
every day a mother is asked to do something that only she can and no one else will do…
…is Mother’s Day.
Every day a mother gets that first phone call the minute something big, small or momentous has happened, from her child, who is in fact now an adult….
…is Mother’s Day.
Every day a mother gets a call for food to be sent,
or for a recipe to be shared (of tackling life OUTSIDE of the kitchen),
or to be asked which medicines should be taken,
or what to wear,
or should I do this or not, go here or not…
Every day a mother is needed, is Mother’s Day.
Every day someone says, ‘you have such good children, they’re so polite, loving, respectful, sensible’….belongs to a mother.
Every day a mother gets snapped at, is also Mother’s Day because every child knows no one else will tolerate their tantrum like a mother does.
And then when they’re spent from their venting, only a mother will give them the perspective (and the yelling) they need to set them right.
Similarly Mother’s Day also belongs to every single person…
mother or not, woman or not, married or not, human or not,
who has played any part in parenting, loving, teaching, guiding, consoling, holding and ‘mannering’ someone else.
In different stages of life we all find ourselves being ‘mothered’ by many different people.
At some point or another…
The child becomes the mother to their parent.
The spouse mothers their other half.
The animal who loves you unconditionally more than any human ever can.
The doctor who tells you to calm down there’s still hope.
The cab driver who got you home safe when you were ‘a little’ drunk.
The boss or teacher who showed you exactly how to get something done more efficiently without making you feel small.
Your house help, who very quickly wrapped that one roll in tin foil and ran after you with it, when you were leaving home without food because you had no time.
That person who saw you wince in pain, fatigue or discomfort, and gave you their seat on the bus, train or doctor’s waiting room without being asked to.
The little boy who set a bowl of water out for the birds to drink.
The little girl who called to ask her friend why she didn’t come to school and filled her in on all that she missed (except the boring academic stuff)
The aunt who filled-in to pick up her niece from school, when the child’s parent couldn’t get out of work.
The uncle who took all the kids he knew to the football or cricket match since he was taking his own anyway.
Or the one without kids of their own who attended their friend’s child’s concert and cheered and whistled as loud as they could.
Or the male writer who wrote motivational quotes that made tired new mums feel better about themselves because he promised them they were doing everything exactly correct…as all mothers do.
To the sun and the earth and the waves,
To the trees for their medicine, wood and their shade,
For sustaining us unconditionally without any demands of their own,
Today Mother’s Day was unanimously everyone’s…and no one’s all the same!
Because it is a mother’s love that ensures we meet all the right people we need, exactly when we need them, or when she cannot reach…to help us along the way!
So here’s wishing all of us a very Happy ‘just another day that we love each other, but simply like having occasions to celebrate’ Day!!
mothersday #happymothersday
Sunset Effect - Nitya Satyani 