Third Meeting

Day/Date : Thursday, February 27, 2014
Time : 10.30 AM
Place : Listening Lab, English Department, UNP.

Participants:
Yuri Hardianti
Cayo Islami ME
Anisa Wahyuni
Ilhami Afnar Hijriah
Hany Rahmayanti
Alfi Rahmi Rusvid
Yusi Gusniati
Novia Ertika


Advisor: Ms. Leni Marlina

Reading Sources : It's Amma's Birthday Tomorrow by Janaki Sooriyarachchi

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Hello All.
We are the members of UNP Reading Circle Community (RCC) from English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Padang.

Now, we'd like to tell you about our activity in the third meeting.
In this third meeting, we discussed about the story by Janaki Sooriyarachchi: It's Amma's Birthday Tomorrow.

Before we tell you about our discussion, here's a brief story of It’s Amma’s Birthday Tomorrow

A little girl, Nikini, saw her father brought a big gift box. She learned that tomorrow was her Amma's (mother) birthday. She wanted to gift a wonderful gift for her. She was wondering all night but she could not think of any gift that could express how much she loved her Amma.
Then, a firefly came. Nikini wanted to give the greatest gift for her Amma, but the firefly suggested Nikini to give 'the biggest’ gift, like the sky or ocean. 
Then, they wandered in the forest to find the gift. They met a mynah bird. It suggested Nikini to give the ‘most beautiful’ gift, something like beautiful flowers, beautiful pearls. They continued to look for the gift. They went on and on but couldn’t find anything. Then, Nikini met a rabbit. It suggested to give the ‘most precious’ gift in the world, something as precious as the moon and the stars. 
They went together further away into the forest. On their way, she met a spider. It suggested Nikini to give a gift that could make her ‘the happiest’, something like a delicious cake, a lovely birthday card, a nice pai of shoes, a colorful dress.
Nikini thought for a while, then she decided to give the most beautiful sari for her Amma.
The spider helped Nikini to  weave a beautifu sari. The firefly helped her to decorate it. And the rabbit helped to paint the sari with beautiful colors from flowers.The mynah bird shook the branches of trees and they shed dew drops on it.  
They made the most beautiful sari for her Amma’s birthday gift. But, the strong wind came and torn the sari into pieces. Nikini was very sad. 
Nikini's mother, who kept looking for her, finally found her crying under the tree. Nikini told her about everything. Then, Amma said that the greatest, biggest, most precious, and most beautiful gift she has ever had in her life was Nikini.

In our discussion, we share some thoughts about how this story has some deep meaning rather than just a children story. 
Things that become our discussion are: 
Why did Nikini find the gift without her father's help? Why she had to be helped by animal? Where did her father go?
And, why did the writer use firefly, rabbit, bird, and spider as the characters which helped Nikini to find the gift for Amma? Why not another animal?
Also, why did the writer use the terms ‘the biggest’, ‘the most beautiful’, ‘the most precious’, ‘the happiest’, to express the gift? 
And, why did they decide to make a sari after wandering around to find a gift?

Well, it was such ironic that Nikini wasn't helped by her father but she was helped by the animal. Whereas, it would be easier for her to find the gift if her father was the one who helped her, not the animal- firefly, mynah bird, rabbit, and spider.
So, regarding to that case, the writer probably wanted to tell us that men have a weak side if it's about love and affection. Men usually tend to be passive and don’t really like to show their feeling. For instance, when they are sad, they will not cry--not in front of people. It's different with woman. If they sad, they will cry directly no matter where, when, and who see them. Also, may be the writer wanted to say that men tend to avoid cooperation that will waste their time, and like to do something simple without giving much effort. Like Nikini's father who did not help Nikini, who perhaps had so many requirements for the gift. Also, men are not so patient in dealing with kids.
So, it can be assumed that women can’t relay too much on man in this case.

Then, why the writer used those four animals as the characters who helped Nikini. We assumed that the four characteristics of animal used by the writer represented the characteristics of men. Each animal symbolize the men. That's why the writer did not use another animal but firefly, bird, rabbit, and spider.
The firefly, it has its own light which could shine in the dark. It's just like men who can be a leader for women. Then, the bird, in this story it flew to find something that could make the sari looked great, so as men, men would try his best to find something women need.
Next is the rabbit, it is a fast-runner. so it implied that men have more energy to do harder work. Men are stronger than women. So, women can rely on them. The last animal is the spider, it can create its own web. It shows that men can take care of people who are important for them. 
Thus, beside their weak side in love and affection, men are reliable in some aspects. 

What is the writer purpose to use the terms ‘the biggest’, ‘the most beautiful’, ‘the most precious’, ‘the happiest’? It seems that the writer wants to tell the readers, especially children, that  we should see our mother as ‘the biggest’, ‘the most beautiful’, ‘the most precious’, ‘the happiest’ because our mother always love us, there is nothing that can be compared to our mothers’ love. 
Mothers’ love is the biggest, the most beautiful, the most precious, and the happiest thing that we can find in this world. There nothing can replace that. Even the most expensive jewelry or the most beautiful scenery is not comparable to the mothers’ love. That’s why the only thing that we can give to our mother is our love. our love as good children who always obey and listen to their words. It’s the only thing that the mothers need as their gift from us.

Then, why did they decide to make a sari? It seems like the writer has a hidden agenda to promote the culture of her country. She is a writer from Sri Lanka where sari is their most precious thing in their culture. So it can represent the love of a mother. The process of making a sari is not easy. There is much effort to make a good sari. 
Maybe that’s why the writer use sari instead of the other gift in her story.

That's our interpretations of the story.
Now, we'd like to invite you to give some comments, opinions, critics, or suggestions for us.
And for you who want to share what you think about the story, feel free to comment in our post. 
And, RCC always kindly invites you who are interested to join. 

Thanks (^o^)/

 

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