MOTHER'S DAY - A TRIBUTE TO ALL MOTHERS

"Mother carries the child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life". Mother’s Day is celebrated to honor all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. Mother’s Day came into being due to the efforts of Ms. Julia Ward Howe and Ms. Anna Jarvis. The history of Mother’s Day is centuries old and goes back to the ancient Greeks, who held celebrations to honor Rhea, the ‘Mother of the Gods’. The early Christians Celebrated the Mother’s festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. Interestingly later, on the religious side there was a holiday to include all mothers called ‘Mothering Sunday’. The English colonists settled in America discontinued the tradition of ‘Mothering Sunday’ because of lack of time. In 1872, Ms. Julia Ward Howe organized a day for mothers dedicated to peace and it is a landmark in the history of ‘Mothers Day’ Ms. Anna Jarvis is recognized to be the founder of ‘Mother’s Day’ in US. Though she never had kids because she never married, she is known as the Mother of ‘Mother’s Day’, an apt title for this lady who worked hard to bestow honor on all mother all over the world. Anne got this inspiration during her childhood itself from her own mother Mrs. Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis who was an activist and a social worker. Mrs. Jarvis used to express her desire that someday someone should honor all mothers, living or dead, and pay tribute to their contributions. A fond daughter, Anna never forgot her mother’s word and when her mother died in 1905, she made up her mind to have a day specially dedicated to all mothers not only to fulfill her mother’s desire but also because she could see the growing negligent attitude of the adult Americans towards their mothers. To start with Anna distributed White Carnations (which was her mother’s favourite flower) at the Church Service in Grafton, West Virginia to honor her mother, as she felt that this flower symbolized a mother’s pure love. Later she and her supporters wrote letters to people with powerful positions making way for the official declaration of a ‘Mother’s Day Holiday’. Her hard work was paid-off by 1911, when ‘Mothers’s Day’ was celebrated in almost every state in the Union and on May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as ‘Mother’s Day’. Since then people across the world have been celebrating this day with joy and devotion. It is unfortunate that Anna Jarvis, who devoted her life for the declaration of ‘Mother’s Day’ holiday was deeply hurt to note the huge commercialization of the day. She criticized the practice of purchasing greeting cards, which she saw as a sign of being too lazy to write a personal letter. She was arrested in 1948 for disturbing the peace while protesting against the commercialization of Mother’s Day and she finally said that she “wished she would have never started the day because it became so out of control…” Today ‘Mother’s Day’ is celebrated in several countries including US, UK, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, China, Japan, Belgium and India. People take this day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for all their love and support. The day has become hugely popular and in several countries, phone lines witness maximum traffic. There is also a tradition of sending flowers, cards and other gifts to mothers on this day. The festival has become commercialized to a great extent. The trend of celebrating ‘Mother’s Day’ in India is very new. However, in this small duration of its beginning, it has gained massive popularity. India also follows the concept of US and celebrates ‘Mother’s Day’ on the second Sunday of May. Though, there is no national holiday on ‘Mother’s day’, the feeling and emotions behind the celebration remain the same. Recently a friend of mine sent me a forward message which read as follows: “A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away on her birthday. As he got out of his car, he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother, but I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose." He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers. As they were leaving, he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother." She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, cancelled the wire order, picked up the bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house. This may sound familiar to many of us, as we do not have the time in this fast world to spare a few moments for our loving mothers who gave their sweat and tears to make us what we are today. As they grow old they need just a few moments of our time to let them know that we love them and it would be better if we could go personally to deliver that bunch of flowers or just to hand over that special card to them instead of letting the florist or the courier man do it. Better still if we could just give them a small hug and kiss – you never realize how much they are longing for that and would treasure it more than those flowers or cards… And this you will realize only after you become a mother yourself… Give this a thought and see how you can make the difference today.. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS, NOT FORGETTING THE YOUNG GIRLS WHO WILL BECOME MOTHERS ONE DAY!!! (based on information collected from various websites)