“OH mum, where are you? I’ve got the most amazing news!” Zarwa couldn’t hold back her excitement. Although it was September, the weather still spoke of summer. She was drenched in sweat as she returned home from a tiring day at school. She found her mother offering the afternoon prayers.

Finally, she got the chance to blurt out the reason for her excitement! “Mum, we have a holiday tomorrow. Imagine, Friday a holiday, which means a long weekend! Isn’t this the best news?” Zarwa was truly excited, as she had already made a zillion plans for this weekend. This was two years ago.

Today as Zarwa walked towards the gates of her school she could see a group of girls talking, “Oh no! I never realised this, it’s a pity we aren’t having a holiday this year.”

“Yeah! It’s sad that this year September 6 falls on Sunday!” said another girl, regretfully. There grumbling continued.

Zarwa felt sad and remembered how two years ago she was just like these two girls, just another teenager desperately wanting a holiday, who didn’t care about the reason for it.

The words of her mother echoed in her ears, “I can totally understand your excitement for a long weekend Zarwa. But can you tell me the reason you have a holiday this Friday?”

Zarwa quickly figured out what date it would be, “I don’t know much but September 6 falls on this Friday and I am pleased that it will be a holiday!”

She didn’t notice the change of expression on her mother’s face. “But dear, how can you not know the significance of September 6? I thought you studied history at school. How could you overlook the importance of Defence Day?” she was shocked at Zarwa’s ignorance of facts.

“How shameful it is that September 6 has been reduced to a mere holiday in your eyes,” She said.

That night, Zarwa opened her laptop not for checking her Facebook page but to search for information related to September 6. This day was related to a significant part of the history of her own homeland which she never bothered to know before. For her generation, a holiday was what mattered, not the reason behind it. That Friday, in her prayers, Zarwa prayed for the martyrs who laid their lives for this homeland.

Coming out of her thoughts to the present, Zarwa smiled. It was never too late. She decided to tell her friends the importance of Defence Day.

Everyone should realise that there exists a reason for every holiday marked on a calendar year. And we should know the story behind these holidays.