The history of Mother's day is centuries old and the earliest Mother's day celebrations can be traced back to the spring clebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea,wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology.
Ancient Romans too celebrated a spring festival called 'Hilaria' dedicated to Cybele, a mother Goddess.The more recent history of Mothers day dates back to the 1600's in England.Here a Mothering SUnday was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent ( the 40 day period leading up to Easter ) to honor mothers.After a prayer service in church to honor Virgin Mary,children brought gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers.
On the occassion,servants,apprentices and other employees staying away from their homes were encouraged by their employers to visit their mothers and honor them.Mother's Day continues to be one of the most sentimental and personal occassions no matter when it is celebrated in any country.
No words can describe the total sacrifice , complete dedication and painstaking work a mother puts in to bring up her child , and no token of appreciation can bring as much joy to any mom as spending time with her children and seeing them truly happy. We may not remember stages of our baby days , or all events of our childhood days but my mom, like any other mom had just one mission in life - to raise a happy and healthy family with my dad , my elder brother and younger sister , though we lived in Bombay without any support system as none of our extended family lived there . ' Ammi ' as we fondly call her has not only given me this beautiful privileged life, but also saved my life on several occassions ,always striving to inculcate great values in each one of us by being a role-model .Both me and my sister have imbibed her passion for cooking ,housekeeping , traditions and gracious hosting .
On this occassion I'd also like to pay tribute to my 'Godmother ' - Mrs.Surekha Atre - my close friend Manasi's mom whom I adore since my college days as she always adopted me as her second daughter and to date continues to inspire me with her tremendous qualities of inner strength , intelligence , her awesome culinary skills and elegant sense of style. And another tribute to my adorable mum-in-law Margaret who is exactly the kind of mom in law I wanted - traditional,old-fashioned,broad-minded and intelligent professional . It amazes me how she managed to juggle her job as a banker as well as bring up Martyn and my sister in law Mhairi so well and she continues to be an understanding , loving , down to earth, non-judgemental friend to me.
Last but not the least - a toast to all my girlfriends who are mommies !You are all beautiful,intelligent,talented and hardworking ladies and hats off to each one of you for juggling home and career -I am as proud of you as your babies !
