The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Do mothers need a special day?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 13, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Do mothers need a special day?

Kanasu Nagathihalli and Pranav Nambiar

TOUCHING: In the true spirit of Mother's Day, a woman and her son spend some quality time together. — PHOTO: K.P.M. Basheer

Kanasu Nagathihalli

and Pranav Nambiar

BANGALORE: Try doing this. Question any Bangalorean on what Mother's Day is all about. The odds of getting the correct answer are about as dim as the Indian cricket team's chances of winning overseas.

Some people in Bangalore view it as a time to reflect on the importance of mothers in their lives. But Arvind Gubbi, a city doctor, does not agree. "Mothers don't need a special day on which to be remembered," he says.

Florists, gift shops and greeting card vendors are not complaining though. Says Vivek Chandiramani, store manager at an Archies outlet: "Our Mother's Day sales register at 40 to 50 per cent above normal."

Has globalisation imported Western customs such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, which were unheard of a decade ago, into this part of the world?

Freelance journalist Sophie Tippu agrees. "Mother's Day is an absolute dumping of Western values into our culture," she says.

But there are those who say the mother should be given her due at least once a year. A college lecturer feels there is nothing wrong with celebrating Mother's Day as the Indian culture has always honoured the mother. However, the day could be used as a pretext to pander to the materialistic rather than accord true respect to the mother.

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