Today is Mother’s day a holiday that started in 1914 when Anna Jarvis succeeded in her crusade to found a memorial day for women, in memory of her mother Ann Jarvis who had worked hard to improve sanitary conditions during the Civil War. ( Source : Wikipedia).In a sad foretelling of days to come, in a few years Anna Jarvis herself was horrified at the commercialization of the day and became an opponent of its celebration.

Meanwhile,in other parts of the world, The Times of India online edition keeps up its tireless efforts to out-tabloid the tabloids with the prominent display of obscure news items.While Mother’s day is not as a big deal in India as it is here in the USA, one of the lead items on the ” front page ” was this item on a study that showed (link):

According to a global survey that looked at where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardships, India is ranked a dismal 66th among 71 “less developed countries” …The State of the World’s Mothers report 2008, brought out by American humanitarian organization, ‘Save the Children’, says that in India, one in 70 women face a lifetime risk of dying during childbirth. In comparison, it is one in 1,300 women in China and one in 74 women in Pakistan.

Someone must have realized its a downer because the article has since disappeared off the front page at least .The TOI editors are not short of irony though- another front page item under”Health/Science” is a study by Prof Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University.Professor Gilbert found (link):

married life is the key to happiness but having kids can ruin it all, and couples only recover their blissful existence once their offspring have left the nest.

The good professor further concludes:

Children do seem to increase happiness (while) you are expecting them, but as soon as you have them, trouble sets in. And happiness returns around the time when children grow up and go away.

So, the TOIs message to its readers is :

1) Having kids is injurious to your health and

2) Having kids is injurious to your marriage.

Please take a minute to reflect on everything that your mother risked to bring your ungrateful self into this world. If you have not already, pick up the phone and call her!

“Mother’s day Mubarak ho ” ( Happy Mother’s day !)

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