“I think we tend to forget that celebration is not just about partying or getting a cake and posting photographs on various social media platforms but about acknowledging the people around you,” says Mita Kandel from Lagankhel, who owns Flameingo, an online store that sells glow jars, while talking about how she is going to celebrate Mother’s Day this year.
We all have that soft spot when it comes to our mothers. We all know that a mother knows everything without us telling her anything. Just by looking at our eyes our mothers know whether we are speaking the truth or lying or what we are craving for at the moment. Without us even uttering a word mums tend to understand us. That’s how special the bond is.
Mother’s Day, which is more commonly known as ‘Aama ko mukh herney din’ or Matatirtha Aunsi in Nepali, is just around the corner. And it is celebrated by all Nepalis spread across the world to honour the beauty of motherhood. This year the celebration falls on May 11 for us Nepalis.
Though the day is the same for everybody, each one of us has our own way of celebrating the occasion. Some celebrate it by taking blessings from their mothers and offering her sweets and fruits while some prefer to rejoice with a cake and a gift. However, due to the ongoing pandemic, celebrations this year are largely going to be muted.
“I will call my mother to wish her on that day,” says Ashutosh Chaurasiya, who has just completed his graduation in IT from Islington College and stays in Sitapaila. “My mother is in Birgunj and it is not that I don’t call her on other days. It is just that Mother’s Day has a totally different meaning,” he shares.
He adds that listening to his mother’s voice over the phone is a very heartwarming and satisfying experience but when he sees other people post photos on social media celebrating the occasion with their mothers then his heart aches to be at home. “It is then I really wish I were at home with my mum to let her know in person how much she means to me.”
If not for the prohibitory order, Chaurasiya says he would have travelled to Birgunj for the occasion. “We do talk over the phone on a regular basis but Mother’s Day is always a special time to spend the day with that particularly special person in life. A person who has sacrificed so much for me,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Kandel says that on many occasions the social media is always flooded with posts expressing people’s love and care for each other but many may not have the sense of belongingness with each other. “The pandemic, though a distressing time, in some way has helped people bond with their family as they are confined within their homes,” she adds.
Be it watching a movie together or trying out a new recipe, people seem to have come closer with their family.
Kandel reveals that since the previous lockdown the relationship with her mother has grown stronger. “We could not go out so to kill time my mum and I started baking some items. At first we tried brownies, then bread and even burgers,” she shares. “And along with those brownies and breads we started to bond even more as we started talking and sharing our feelings.”
However, on this Mother’s Day, Kandel will miss the baking sessions with her mother as she is outside the valley. “I will call her and wish her but how I wish she was here,” she says.
Unlike Chaurasiya and Kandel, whose mothers are not in the valley, there are some who will have to avoid meeting their mothers though they are in the valley. For instance, Krishna Baniya, a homemaker from Nakkhu, says that though her mother lives in the same neighbourhood she will avoid meeting her mother.
“It is like what they say, ‘so close, yet so far way’,” shares Baniya. “My mum is 80 years old and since everybody has been saying that the aged are more prone to contracting the coronavirus I do not want to visit her and endanger her life,” she adds. “I have always made it a point to meet my mother in person on Mother’s Day but this year I will not do so,” she mentions.
“It may sound peculiar but I guess the best gift I can give my mum this Mother’s Day is not meeting her,” says Baniya
