Remembering at least once a year that mothers are special

Remembering at least once a year that mothers are special

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): Five-year-old Rena does not know why she loves her mother, she just does. "Very, very much," says the tiny tot. Asep, 19, a Sundanese from a poor rural family of seven, works as a house boy in a Jakarta home. His desire is to earn as much money as he can and to give it all to his mother in the hope that she does not have to toil from dawn to dusk.

Geoff, a teenaged Singaporean studying here, would like his mother to know that despite all the disagreements and arguments, she is always in his heart. Geoff plans to use Mother's Day, celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year almost the world over, to convey this message once more to his mother.

Thousands of years ago, before patriarchal society brainwashed the world into believing that the supreme deity is a male, people worshiped a great goddess, the mother of all creation, who is still known by different names in different parts of the world and associated with the moon, the earth and fertility.

She is called Aset in Egypt; Artemis, Cybele, Demeter and Rhea in Greece; Amaterasu in Japan, Astarte in Mesopotamia; Freyja in Norway; Hina in the Oceanic region; Mati-Syra-Zeml in Slavic countries, Dorje Pahmo in Tibet; and Devi, Durga and Kali in India.

Today, homage continues to be paid to the mother in different countries, at different times of the year and in different ways. Gifts are given, such as the gold products offered by Gold Mart.

In India, the festival of Durga is held in early October to honor the divine mother with 10 arms, which she uses to keep the demons at bay who threaten to destroy the universe. The numerous arms of the goddess symbolize the multiple tasks that women still perform, often simultaneously, and bring back to memory an ancient Jewish proverb that says that God could not be everywhere and, therefore, he made mothers.

In Japan, Mother's Day is also celebrated on the second Sunday in May like in the U.S. Shuhei, 13, does not know when the celebrations are but he is sure that his father will remind him. Shuhei's family does not allow his mother to cook on Mother's Day. "We do all the cooking for that one day to thank our mother who works so hard for us every day," he said.

Amadou, 12, from Senegal, learned about Mother's Day when he lived in Canada before moving to Jakarta. The teachers at school asked the students to make handicrafts for their respective mothers. "My mother is really nice to me. Even on Mother's Day I can invite friends to the house and she will cook special food for us," said Amadou.

Ayu loves her mother because she is beautiful to look at. "She is so amazing that if I tell even a small lie she seems to know I am not telling the truth. I am able to tell my mother so many things I would never dream of telling my father," says the teenager.

Jana remembers her mother telephoning her own mother in Germany every Mother's Day. "Although I love my mother all the time I try to be extra sweet to her on Mother's Day," says the 12-year-old.

In parts of Yugoslavia, Mother's Day is observed two weeks before Christmas, when boys and girls tiptoe into their mother's room very early in the morning and tie her up. The mother pretends to be surprised at being tied up and begs her children to untie her, promising to give them little gifts hidden under her pillow. In Indonesia, Mother's Day falls in December like in both Spain and Portugal, where the later two countries pay tribute to the Virgin Mary. However, Hari Ibu, as it is known in Indonesia is not strictly Mother's Day but Women's Day.

Modern-day celebrations can be traced back to Anna Jarvis, who was a year old when the Civil War ended in America in 1865 but the hatred among families in West Virginia was still ugly and strong. Anna grew up hearing her mother say that if families honored their mother on a special day the fighting and hatred among Americans would end.

After her mother's death, Anna promised to make her dream come true. She was responsible for getting a special Mother's Day service held on May 12, 1907, in the local church. The hope was that children would remember to express appreciation for their mothers in her lifetime and the celebrations would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.

Today, it is remembered in the U.S. as the country's first Mother's Day celebration. By 1911, every state had its own observance, and the Mother's Day International Association was incorporated on December 12 the following year.

Anna decorated the celebrations with countless carnations, her mother's favorite flower. Over the years, white carnations were used to honor dead mothers and represent the sweetness, purity and endurance of a mother's love. Red carnations are a symbol of a living mother. In Sweden, shortly before Mother's Day, the Swedish Red Cross sells tiny plastic flowers, the money from which is used to finance vacations for mothers with many children.

The ways might be varied, but the sentiment remains the same around the world to thank mother for everything, most of all for making it possible for everyone to be here.