It was a bright, cheerful day, and people everywhere were eagerly awaiting Independence Day. Yes, our nation, Pakistan, was about to turn 78 years old.

Ali was very excited and decided to celebrate it differently by decorating his house with small paper flags and colourful lights. But his celebration wasn’t exactly thoughtful — he had also planned to light firecrackers and play horns loudly with his friends all day.

Ecstatic with excitement, he began decorating the house with his two friends, Nabeel and Ahmed. They were lighting up the place with strings of lights and flags. Ali was setting up the lights on his balcony, Nabeel was hanging flags on the walls and Ahmed was installing a huge flag on the rooftop.

After spending the whole day decorating, they were finally ready. It was almost midnight. As the clock struck 12, they began their countdown, lit the fireworks and played the horn loudly in celebration.

Disturbed by all the noise, Ali’s grandfather woke up and came outside. He was furious.

“What is this?!” he shouted.

“Our c-celebr-ra-tion,” babbled Ali, nervously, because he was scared of his grandfather.

“WHAT! This is your celebration?” his grandfather questioned, raising his voice. “This is not how we celebrate our independence. First, we should thank Allah for giving us a separate and independent land, where we can worship, pray and live freely without restrictions. Secondly, we must remember the sacrifices of our heroes gave for this country. We should keep them in our prayers.

And if you really want to make this day special, do something meaningful. Plant a tree — our environment is getting more polluted every day. Make posters about saving water — do you know it’s predicted that by 2050, Pakistan may run out of water?

“Spread awareness, not noise. If you celebrate like the ignorant and uneducated, then what makes you any different? And what difference will you make to the country?”

Ali understood what his grandfather was trying to say. He felt ashamed for being so superficial in his expression of patriotism, just making a show of things rather than focusing on meaningful actions.

He and his friends then started posting on social media to raise awareness about saving every drop of water. They planted trees in their garden and nearby areas. Soon, others began to follow their lead — even adults.

This story reminds us to celebrate 14th August in ways that make our elders, heroes and our nation proud of us. We can honour the spirit of independence by planting trees, conserving water, keeping our surroundings clean and promoting the true values of unity, faith, discipline and justice.

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 9th, 2025