Mother's Day: A Ladies Only Affair

Mother's Day always turned into some kind of "Women's Day” in my family out there on the Highveld in South Africa. You know the sort of event where the women (aunts, daughters, cousins, nieces) gather at grandma's, weighted down with gifts and food showing off their culinary skills. No males allowed. We celebrate ourselves and each other as mothers and future mothers. This is where secrets are shared, ties are strengthened and the kinks of life get passed on from generation to generation. 

Now, I have always thought this unique of my own family until a little chit-chat in the United Nations Vienna Cafe set me straight. Bent over cups of bitter coffee and hazy pockets of cigarette smoke, my friends revealed their own particular branding of Mother's Day. 

It seems that in some Moroccan homes, two in this case, the celebration of mother’s day is very much a "ladies only" affair. Celebrated on the last Sunday of May, the females gather, bearing gifts and platters of couscous, save one difference. The difference is that these women celebrate motherhood with traditional dance and music. Each female gets a turn to bust a rhyme and show off her moves. This is followed by the traditional Berber calling, which is a rapid succession of the clapping of the tip of the tongue against the roof of the palate creating a sound akin to a shrill of some sort. Believe it or not, this is the sound that Berbers most identify with celebration and joy.

Berber women

Even where males are welcomed, there still remains some traditions only shared amongst the females. Such is the case in one particular French family where on Mother’s Day the women buy each other small bouquets of stylized Lilies. The Lily is the French national flower and on the last Sunday of May it symbolizes the purity of the female and the gentle strength of the mother.

Now mothers have sons too and if you from an "Indian Family" like mine, sons tend to be kings in the eyes of the Indian mother. So what does the King do to please his mom on her special day? My brother plants a kiss on her cheek and enquires what she has prepared for lunch. Still the King of his Kraal.

But according to my friend from Hyderabad, Mother's Day is the day when Kings literally become servants in India. Although the concept of Mother's Day is new to India and has mainly taken off in the big cities, the mother, always a goddess in India is honored with flowers, gifts, and prayers too. There the "walahs" get the day off and the Kings wait on their mothers and wives, hand to foot. In his family, this particular King cooks his mom a somewhat traditional Indian breakfast of Gobhi Parathas (stuffed cauliflower bread) and Paneer sandwiches (its like grilled cheese but with an accompaniment of green chilies and a toss of red chili powder). This is washed down with masala chai (a milky tea jazzed up with aromatic spices of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg).

Indeed, there is nothing typical to celebrating Mother’s Day. It is celebrated around the world by the different cultures in various different ways and on many different days. The most common day being the second Sunday in May and the most common way being to treat mom with breakfast in bed and shower her with cards and gifts. Sometimes special lunches are cooked for her, spa days are booked or her daily chores are performed by the more conscientious of kids.

The Jordanians, like most Middle Eastern Countries, celebrate Mother’s Day on March 21st and like my Jordanian friend says' "It don’t matter how or when you celebrate it, it just matters that you do."

So how do you?