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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

When was Mother's day? I don't know. I don't keep a tab on that.

I did not wish my mother on Mother's day. Other than having weak
communication ties to the village in India where my parents are living
right now, I will first have to explain to her what is Mother's day and
what is the need for it.

Come to think of it, what is the need for it?

Reminds me of a little story.

Bhagwan Mahavir, when he was crowned the king, spent a whole day in
bestowing gifts, grants, awards, trade concessions and the like all day.
By the evening he was tired, but happy, and proud that he had made
everyone in his kingdom happy.

When he went back to the palace to eat, he realized that his mother was
the only one he had not given anything to. So he asked what it would
take to make her happy. She insisted that she was already happy but he
wanted to pay her back for all she had done for him. Finally, she agreed
to ask for something and asked something strange. She asked for Mahavir
to sleep in her room and on her bed that night. He was puzzled but he
could not make her ask for anything more. So, he agreed.

That night, when Bhagwan Mahavir lay down to sleep beside his mother, he
got up immediately with a jump.
"Mother, this bed is wet!", he exclaimed.
"Yes, I know.", his mother replied calmly.

He was even more perplexed when his mother told him that she had ordered
the servants to sprinkle water on her bed.
In an astonished state of mind, he asked for her reason and got this,
"Son, when you were a little child, you used to sleep with me. And quite
a few times you wetted the bed (no nappies then), and when that happened
I used to switch with you and put you down on the dry side and sleep on
the wet side of the bed myself. I have spent countless nights like that
sleeping on the wet bed, but if you spen this one night with me on this
wet bed, I'll call it even."

Bhagwan Mahavir fell at his mother feet. He realized then that no matter
how rich or how powerful he is, noone can pay back a mother's debt.

Anytime I am getting too big for my shoes, this little story puts things
in perspective for me.

I think it was Saint Aurbindo who said, "God could not be everywhere so
he created mothers!". I agree with him but I believe more in my mother
than in any God.

But I don't need a made-up holiday to remind me of my mother. The made
up holidays Valentine's day, Mother's day, Father's day are for people
who are too busy to respect these relations. While every one of these
days is a chance to celebrate that relationship, I believe that if you
are not cherishing that relationship every moment, then buying a dozen
roses on a particular day will do nothing for you.

Happy Mother's Day! :-)

4 comments:

Vik Rajagopalan said...

good one mayte. But i think differently to your signing note. I think these made up days are not to respect or know such a person existed but it is for the fact that we are indebted to them for what they have had done all along. On the same analogy, why is a bday quite special to you? Not that you dont treat yourself well everyday but that is one day of an iconic stature when you reminisce of your real existence.

Anyway it is all about beliefs and expressing it.

Keep it rolling then.

Sunil Goswami said...

Thanks for your comments, Vik. It was nice of you to take the time.
I wouldn't agree with you about the birthday part. Birthday is a mark in your life, a natural bookmark. So is your mother's birthday. These cannot be compared with phoney, made-up holidays like Mother's day where you are clubbing all mothers in one day. Which means that we are too lazy or careless to remember our Mother's birthday. I usually try to treat my birthday as any other day, but messages from loved ones make it special. And sometimes it serves as a good bookmark to do something special for which you need a special date. For example, I am planning to launch my two webportals soon and since my birthday is close, I would like both to coincide.
I agree with you on the belief part though, it is you and your attitude that makes anything special. My only complain is with people who choose to ignore the important things in life, like Mother, and use this one day to try and rid themselves of guilt by a simple wish. And also the merchants who dream up and commercialize such phoney holidays. :)

Cheers.

Always Happy said...

Hey Sunil, I completely agree with your words in your concluding para. I dont believe in any of these mother, father, friendship, valentine days - every day is a celebration for me with my dear and near ones.

And other thing - even i would have to explain my Mother waht is mother's day, let alone giving her a card or flowers or gifts.

It was an awww..read for me this afternoon.

Sunil Goswami said...

Hello AH, I am glad you liked it. So many Indian people have the same situation, our parents don't know what all these made-up holiday's are. They don't go to Archie's Galleries or they'd know. :) But then, I believe we have a culture of respecting our parents and showing our love in different ways than words.