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Parents: The God of children

US Senator Jim DeMint has aptly stated, "One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad." When God thought of loving children, he thought of parents who are an epitome of selfless affection.

Ritam Banati
US Senator Jim DeMint has aptly stated, "One of the greatest titles in the world is parent, and one of the biggest blessings in the world is to have parents to call mom and dad." When God thought of loving children, he thought of parents who are an epitome of selfless affection. The mother of all challenges “A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie." -- Tenneva Jordan The credit for the celebration of Mother’s Day goes to Anna Jarvis, daughter of Anna Reeves Jarvis. The story behind the Day is heart-rending indeed. In 1905, Anna Jarvis pledged at her mother’s tomb to establish a day to honour mothers. They say that Anna had had an argument with her mother who died even before there was time to reconcile. That was when she vowed to work for the establishment of Mother’s Day. She worked hard for the same and finally succeeded. But the growing commercialisation of Mother`s Day worried her. In her own words, "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit." She opposed the sale of flowers and greeting cards also ("a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write," she had said). Ironically the contemporary era has witnessed the increased commercialisation of Mother’s Day. Cards and gifts are bought and sold in plenty. But then they too are a token of love. However the most treasured gift that you can present your mother at least on Mother’s Day is your time. A mother is a selfless giver of boundless love. It has been rightly said by Mildred B. Vermont, "Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love." Take out some time from your busy schedule on this day to express how much love you feel for the woman who is your life-giver. What a child grows up to be is largely a reflection of his/her upbringing. The only values that endure forever in a man/woman are the ones that are imbibed in his/her childhood. It is the mother’s daunting task to instill the right blend of sentimentality and practicality in a child, for has not someone remarked, “Men are what their mothers make them”? Motherhood in itself is a challenge. Right from the beginning of childbirth till the time you grow up to be an adult, your mother guides you and then the time comes when she lets you take the direction which is right according to you. It would be apt to quote Dorothy Canfield Fisher here, "A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary." Perhaps, the least that we can do for the woman who gave her life to us would be to make Mother’s Day as special and as memorable for her as possible. To ensure that the woman who makes us feel important all the time is now given the same importance and the same love that she keeps showering upon us. My hero, my father Ask a little girl who her crush is. Ask a little boy who his role model is and the answer will be the same. Someone has aptly remarked, “A father is the first man in a little girl’s (or boy’s) world.” A Father, Daddy, Dad or Papa is not only an apostle of love for the child but is also his/her friend, philosopher and guide. A child learns to walk by holding his father’s little finger. That little finger guides him for the rest of his life either directly or indirectly. The idea of celebrating Father’s Day came from a daughter who was raised single-handedly by her widowed father who she later realised was a selfless giver of profound affection. The daughter was John B. Dodd and her father was William Smart, an American Civil War veteran. This was way back in 1909. Henceforth the first Father’s Day was observed on June 19, 1910 and laid the foundation for the signing of a presidential proclamation in 1966 by President Lyndon Johnson declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father`s Day. A father is that gift from God who God knew will be placed above him by all children. Someone we all look up to. Someone who can never be wrong in our eyes. It is so true that a father never gets tired of giving sound counsel. Enid Bagnold has rightly stated, “A father is always making his baby into a little woman (or man). And when she is a woman (or man) he turns her (or him) back again." A shoulder to cry on, a dome of encouragement and a voice of affection. Yes all three combined in one. These are some of the qualities that are imbibed in a father ever since he witnessed his little angel being born. The little one who wet his lap, who wailed in his arms and who smiled easily while being cajoled. A father’s loving eyes acknowledge a child’s growth, his loving hands pick up a hurt child to tend to his wound and then order him to walk again, his unasking loving embrace so full of warmth and tenderness all form an aura of protection around any son or daughter no matter what his/her age. A woman remains a girl for her Papa and continues with all her little girl tantrums knowing that there is one man in this world who will always love her no matter what. Someone who loves unconditionally, someone who gives selflessly, someone who scolds unflinchingly, someone who cares “Godily”, just with one little expectation: “My child give me the happiness of hearing your laughter till the end of time.” So it is but natural that we celebrate the Day to express our boundless love and affection for the man who will never cease to be there for us.