Oh! Colombo

It is now huge in the City of Colombo. It would seem that Mother’s Day has gained popularity over the years and the day seems to have become a consumer fete and commercial bonanza. Hotels, restaurants and other eating places promote irresistible offers and they are all packed. The worst are the radio stations that invite listeners to submit a dedication and listening to the nasal lauding of how wonderful mother is, making you wonder whether the lauding is genuine or merely to win the prize.

In Sri Lanka, like in most Asian countries and most parts of the world, people do love and respect their parents and in return mothers are always there for their children, especially in their times of need. We certainly do not need a “day” to show appreciation for the people we love, we should appreciate them every day. Such a day seems a requisite in countries where offspring have absolutely no time for their mothers and are able to use this dedicated day to shower them with gifts, take them out to a meal and happily forget them until the next year.
I was quite happy when on that day I met a few mothers whose children had not made a fuss about them. When I inquired whether they were disappointed or upset about this they replied that they were not. What they said was ‘we have loved and cherished our parents and it has been the same for generations. The children have seen this and also respect us. We do our best to provide for them with lots of love, which does not come with a price tag that requires appreciation by celebrating on a dedicated day.’

Some mothers probably enjoy gadding around in public in tow with their children, for all to see how much they are cared for. Love is in the air one way or another and I guess all celebrate love in different ways. Commercialism will always prevail and all these gimmicks will continue.