All the girls gathered around Saleha as she entered the classroom carrying their checked English test papers, sent by Ms Fareeha. They were curious to know the marks they had obtained.

Saleha got the second highest marks instead of the first and she wondered why Ms Fareeha cut one whole mark for making the slight mistake of not capitalising ‘P’ of Pakistan.

Rabia got a detailed note on her paper for using the sheets economically, reducing the width of the margins she drew and making her usually large handwriting a little smaller. She used to leave three-inch margins on both sides and her handwriting was so large that a line could hold only three or four words.

Iqra was told to arrange and number her sheets properly before pinning them together. Almost every girl of the class got a detailed note on one thing or the other. Ms Fareeha, their new English teacher, had joined the school only a week back and it was the very first test given by her.

“Our new teacher seems to be very strict in marking,” all of them concluded. The bell rang to announce the end of the school day. They packed their bags and left for home.

The next day, when the English period started, Ms Fareeha stepped in with her usual grace and greeted them. Before starting the lesson, she asked, “I hope all of you saw your mistakes in the test and read the notes I added. If anyone has any confusion or question, feel free to discuss with me.”

Saleha stood up to inquire about her one mark deduction.

“No my child, it isn’t a negligible mistake. The way you write your country’s name shows how much you love it. And grammatically speaking, you are supposed to start proper nouns with a capital letter,” she replied sweetly.

Then Rabia raised her hand, “Teacher, I’ve always been writing like this. It’s my style and I can’t change it now. I don’t understand why you want me to change it.”

“Dear, you are accountable for using the resources granted by this land. Remember, Pakistan is a developing country, it has to import paper and we can’t afford such a luxurious use of it,” she answered.

“But teacher, I can buy as many sheets as I need. My parents can easily afford it,” Rabia was still confused.

“Even then you don’t have the right to waste anything, leading to your country spending more on importing it,” she explained further.

All the students wondered at the way the teacher responded. No teacher had ever made them feel and think like this before. Deep in their hearts, they liked Ms Fareeha’s patriotism.

Saleha stood up again and said, “Teacher, I also love Pakistan very much and I’ve plans to serve my country when I grow up, but I didn’t realise I could do something for it at this early age when I’m only a sixth grader.”

Ms Fareeha’s smiled at this and replied, “There are lots of ways in which you can serve your country, starting right from this early age. This topic needs a detailed discussion. Some of the ways are: economical use of resources such as papers, stationery items, electricity, water, money, etc. Never ever waste anything just because you do not need it or you can buy more of it. Think from a broader perspective. Think of those who are deprived of these things. Think of the money Pakistan has to pay to other countries to import these items and, more importantly, you should ...”

Ms Fareeha had to leave her sentence incomplete as the bell rang, indicating the end of the class. Before leaving, Ms Fareeha said, “The most important thing you can do is to quit your negative habits and adopt positive ones. We’ll continue our discussion tomorrow, but all of you discuss this with your parents or siblings today. Let me know what change you can bring in yourself just for the sake of your dear homeland.”

The girls thought hard about how they could be better citizens and what kind of citizens Pakistan needs to create a good image in the world.

In Ms Fareeha’s next class, there was much discussion. Rida promised to quit the habit of eating too much snacks and junk food. She admitted that her mother helped her reach this decision. Pakistan surly needs strong individuals, both physically and mentally.

Sarah’s passion was to become a teacher, so she decided to start right away by teaching her maid’s children who hadn’t enrolled in any school because of poverty. Her father promised to buy them books.

Zubiya intended to plant trees around her house to add oxygen to the atmosphere. Hania accepted that she always bought branded clothes, but now she would save money by buying regular clothes. The money saved thus would be spent on buying clothes for the needy.

Maria’s decision was to quit cheating in exams. Hareem was very good at creative writing, so she decided to use her pen to bring a positive change through her words.

Khaula was in the habit of leaving the iron on after ironing her clothes, the tap turned on while brushing her teeth, lights and fan on even when she wasn’t in the room. Now she promised to be more careful and not waste electricity. The rest of the students also made similar promises.

Ms Fareeha was very proud of the students and glad to see the intense love they had for Pakistan. It was for the first in their lives when they weren’t preparing for the Independence Day celebrations in the usual way. There was no wastage of money on buying decorations or fireworks. This time their hearts and souls were involved in actually making a difference as citizens of Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, Young World August 19th, 2017