Imagine if every item of publicity for Mother’s Day was a genuine Rs2,000 note, rare though that may be – the country would be drowning in ambrosia! Still, it was very touching to see the country bathed in motherly love last weekend, except for the odd ungrateful wretch trying to extract money from his nearest and dearest to fund his cravings. And you all had a wonderful time advertising so-called special offers to entice poor mortals to spend and spend.

Mother’s Day is a comparatively recent invention. There was nothing like it in Ancient Greece, unsurprisingly in a society where enthusiasm for the pursuit of beauty outstripped any interest in material things. There was an early spring festival to honour Rhea, known as the mother of the gods, said to arrive in a lion-drawn chariot bathed in wild music and flowing wine, leading to disorderly conduct and orgiastic dances that would make even the most boisterous sega party look tame. The Romans also had spring festivals, dedicated in their case to Magna Mater (Big Mama in popular parlance). But the celebrations were so outrageous, her followers were banished from Rome.

At the root of the modern festival is the Church’s Mothering Sunday, originally a day off for servants to visit their mother church, usually with their mothers and other family members. For many, it was the only time of year when they could all get together. Mother’s Day itself was launched by Anna Jarvis 110 years ago and became a US official holiday in 1914, proof, if the Donald were not enough, that the American declaration of independence was ill-considered. But there were others before her. Ironically, the writer of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, promoted a Mothers’ Peace Day from 1872, mainly supported by anti-war activists. It might have had more success in the 1960s. A Frank Hering urged the setting aside of a Mother’s Day four years before Jarvis, who considered it somewhat fishy that Mother’s Day could possibly have a “father” in Hering.

As a linguistically satellite country, Mauritius celebrates la fête des Mères on the last Sunday in May like France, whereas most countries use the second Sunday. Britain is one of the few to retain Mothering Sunday, which became popular again in the 1950s thanks to the efforts of UK merchants, who saw it as a great commercial opportunity. Unlike here, their success was limited. Breakfast in bed for mother became the biggest symbol of filial love, plus flowers and maybe chocolates and cards – but not washing machines and mobile phones.

Some local mothers have been taken in by the implication that everyone is being bought expensive presents. Of course, men have a strong attachment to their mothers, often visiting them before they go to work and again before they return home. Laudable though that may be, such devotion doesn’t always seem to extend to their wives. Fortunately the commercial plot to celebrate a Father’s Day as well has never attracted much interest.

If the Greeks never fell into the trap of consumerism, what’s gone wrong? Jarvis blamed Hering and others for the commercialisation of Mother’s Day and worked to protect it from “the hordes of money schemers.” When that failed, she tried to have it abolished, but ended up in poverty and eventually in a sanatorium – and people connected with the floral and greeting card industries paid the bills to keep her there. Malin though you may find that, you might care to read her statement, Kidnapping Mother’s Day: Will You Be an Accomplice?

Yours sincerely,
Epi Phron