WITH kids singing, chanting and dancing amid the echoes of such patriotic and pulsating songs like “Hum zinda qaum hain”, “Dill dil Pakistan” and countless others, in schools from Karachi to Khyber, August 14 each year — this is the time to celebrate.

In the bustling lanes, streets and roads, thoroughfares and highways and in the youth-packed Kharadar and Meethadar of Karachi, Chaburjee and Anarkali of Lahore, Kalibari and Chowk Yaadgar of Peshawar, throbbing Jinnah Road of Quetta and so on, youths sing and celebrate their hearts out for Pakistan.

Independence Day is important indeed. But what is vital is that the vim and vigour of the Independence Day transforming into achievements and laurels our celebrities have earned for us. Whether it is the jazba junoon of the Cricket World Cup winning Pakistani team in Australia or the glory that A-Level, CIE record Ali Moin Nawazish has earned for Pakistan or our science geniuses like Professor Abdus Salam and Dr Abdul Qadeer bringing home contemporary world honours as national assets – these are just a few instances of the spirit of glorious deeds which our children should emulate.

Here are a few examples of how Pakistani students have made their mark internationally. Not long ago seven Pakistani students got top honours among more than 33,000 participants from 52 countries in the largest ThinkQuest International Competition sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation (OEF). Pakistani students have also performed brilliantly at several international science Olympiads. At the International Science and Education Fair 2014, Los Angeles, students belonging to Pakistan participated and they had some remarkable things to present.

Twelve students in Islamabad secured the highest marks in the world in the 2013 Cambridge exams, then our students also secured spots in the CIE’s “Top in the World” category for different IGCSE, O- and A-levels subjects, for the exams held in June and November 2013.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Street Children’s Football team excelled in the World Cup Street Child tournament, clinching the third spot after beating USA. This clearly shows that Pakistan is blessed with raw talent. With the flair for football rocketing, one can hope in the next decade or so a Pakistani team gets on the grandest stage of the game, play with footballs made in motherland and makes Pakistan proud. Meanwhile, footballs stitched by the magical fingers of our skilled little artisans from Sialkot have been the highlight of the FIFA World Cup as well as other major international events.

There are countless silent role models contributing to Pakistan’s positive image throughout the world in the fields of business, education, technology, media, etc.

The point to emphasise here is that our children are our future, which remains full of promise and potential if the celebration and festivities are blend with practical commitment and resolve in character and career building. It is when our talented youth banks more on hard work and merit than influential uncles for career openings and jobs, where originality and innovation prevail over set and stereotype practices. It is a creativity test and a national challenge in accordance with our value system and contemporary demands as the letter and spirit of freedom towards a better and brighter Pakistan.