"Ma" – the sweetest call in the world. Within this tiny word lies profound affection, tenderness, and the purest love on Earth. From childhood through joy, sorrow, fear, or excitement, every human emotion is intertwined with a mother's name. From birth to death, a person's ultimate refuge is the embrace of that loving woman called "Ma."
Today, Sunday, the world honors all those loving mothers on World Mother's Day. Every year, the second Sunday of May is celebrated globally with special significance.
Originating in the United States, the day is now observed worldwide. Accordingly, Bangladesh will also celebrate the day today with various programs.
Children will express their love for their mothers by offering flowers and various gifts to convey their well wishes. However, Mother's Day is not limited to just one specific day. The debt of how a mother raises her child with care and love can never be repaid. Therefore, it is the responsibility of children to love their mothers unconditionally, not just on one day, but every day.
In reality, no specific time or day is needed to love and respect one's mother. Every mother deserves her child's love every single day. Yet, today is a day to specially show love and honor to the mother who carried her child in her womb for ten months and ten days, the mother who dedicated all her desires and pleasures to her child.
The spiritual bond between a mother and child transcends lifetimes. Driven by the profound emotion of this unbreakable bond, countless songs, poems, stories, and novels have been written throughout the ages. Numerous timeless works of art have been created. Bengali literature also abounds with countless poems dedicated to mothers. Rabindranath Tagore's "Mone Pora" (Remembrance), Shamsur Rahman's "Kokhono Amar Ma-ke" (Never My Mother), Humayun Azad's "Amader Ma" (Our Mother), Al Mahmud's "Nolok" (Nose Ring), and Kalidas's "Matribhakti" (Devotion to Mother) are just a few such timeless tributes.
In all ages and all religions of the world, mothers have been placed on the highest pedestal of respect. In the Holy Quran, Allah says, "And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is within two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination." (Surah Luqman, Verse 14).
Interestingly, there is a peculiar similarity in the pronunciation of the word "mother" in different languages around the world. Almost all these words begin with the letter "M." In German, it's "Mutter," in Dutch "Moeder," in Italian "Madre," in Chinese "Mama," in ancient Egyptian "Mat," in Swahili "Mama," and in African, Hindi, and Bengali, it's "Ma."
How this similarity arose remains a great mystery. However, linguist Roman Jakobson suggests that when babies nurse, they make certain sounds with their mouths full. These sounds are nasal, so they often sound like "M." That's why words used to call "mother" in almost all languages begin with "M" or " (M)."
The English equivalent of "Ma" is "Mom," which is a modified form of the earlier word "Mamma." It is believed that the English word "Mamma" comes from the Latin word "Mamma," which was used to denote "breast." The word "Mammal," the English word for a milk-producing animal, originated from this word.
The origins of Mother's Day can be traced back to ancient Greece, where the worship of the mother goddesses Cybele and Rhea was prevalent. Additionally, several rituals like Mothering Sunday existed in Europe and the United Kingdom. Mothering Sunday was always celebrated on a specific Sunday in honor of mothers.
However, the currently observed Mother's Day originated in 1908. In the early 20th century, Anna Jarvis, a schoolteacher from Philadelphia, USA, was deeply saddened by the familial disconnections she witnessed and conceived the idea of creating awareness by celebrating a special day for mothers. Before she could realize her noble thought, she passed away on May 9, 1905. After her death, her daughter, Anna M. Jarvis, began working to fulfill her mother's last wish.
With the help of friends, she initiated Mother's Day in 1908 with a gathering of all mothers at the Philadelphia church where her mother used to worship. In 1914, the then President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, officially declared the second Sunday of May as a government holiday dedicated to mothers. Since then, the second Sunday of May has been celebrated as International Mother's Day.
