It's time to pamper mom with gifts

KANPUR: Shops are flooded with cards for those who want to thank their mothers for always being the pillar of strength and support. Mother's Day will be celebrated on May 12.
Specially designed cups, flower baskets, attractive ladies apparels, fancy footwear, musical cards, colourful jewellery are all there to show your love and emotions to your mother.Personalised coffee mugs, T-shirts and pillow covers are among the pick for this Mother's Day.
Owner of a gift shop in Arya Nagar said: "We have a huge range of gift and cards for the Mother's Day, including letters, mementos, photo frames, coffee mugs and soft toys. The wooden dolphins are the latest attraction." Discounts of 10 to 25% are also offered.
Regular gifts like musical cards, popout gadgets, poster-size cards are also in demand which cost between Rs 75 and Rs 295. 'Mamma and Son teddy bears' with messages like 'love you mom' and 'Mummy you are a star', are also popular among buyers. The stuff toys are ranged from Rs 600 onwards.
"Among the latest trend, the scroll letter made up of cloth with quotations about mother written on it is grabbing a lot of attention. This gift costs from Rs 200 to Rs 500 depending upon the size of the letter," said a gift shop owner in K-Block. The gifts also include quotation books, coffee mugs and photo frame, which can be bought between Rs 99 and 299.
Owners of personalised gift item shops in the city are finding it difficult to meet the demands. Huge orders have been placed to paste mother's photo on stuffs like coffee mugs, pillow covers and T-shirts.
Owner of a personalised gift shop in Kidwai Nagar said that the demand of such gifts has increased three times. "In past three days I have received nearly 100 orders for coffee mugs, 40 T-shirts and 70 pillows covers. The price to tag the photo of mom in these gifts may ranges from Rs 199 to Rs 599. Children are coming out with unique ideas for printing on the stuff so that the moms can preserve it forever," the shopkeeper added.
Children are also buying hand-made paintings and dress designs for framing and stitching. Many kids also plan to cook food for moms to make the day special for them.
History of Mothers Day
1.)The history of Mothers Day dates back to the ancient annual spring festival. Greeks dedicated it to maternal goddesses. They used the occasion to honour Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother of many deities of Greek mythology.
2.)Ancient Romans, too, celebrated a spring festival, called Hilaria dedicated to Cybele, a mother goddess.
3.)Early Christians celebrated Mother's Day during the festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent in honor of the Virgin Mary. In England, the holiday was expanded to include all mothers. It was then called Mothering Sunday.
Though the day came into being on May 10, 1908 by an American, Anna Jarvis, Mother's Day can be traced to medieval times when children from poor families often worked as domestic servants and lived in their master's houses. In the middle of Lent, these children were given a day off to visit the Mother Church and pray to Virgin Mary. This was usually on the fourth Sunday of the month and named as 'Mothering Sunday'. After paying tribute to the spiritual mother, children would visit their mothers and present them with flowers. Girls would bake a special 'Mothering Cake'. The tradition of baking a 'Simnel cake' still continues in England.