Today is 21st April, 73rd death anniversary of our National Poet, Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. The great legendary poet guided Muslims towards a separate homeland. It is irony of fate that the teachings of Iqbalhave never been adhered to by our rulers. Intelligentsia in Pakistan applauded Iqbals work, but sorry to say, it has remained attractive material onlyfor text books and juicy substance forall and sundry's speeches. We never tried to understand what he meant through his poetry; a wakeup call for all Muslims. Being practical in deeds is more important than always beating about the bushthrough mere words. This element is still missing from our lives. We recite his poems, renowned singers sing it, but our lives remain unchanged. Reason is very simple; we have not put into practise his farsighted mission and vision. Resultantly, even after 73 years of his death we are slipping downward as a nation. On this day we should make a decision that we will follow his message of self-respect, honesty, loyalty and punctuality. Only reading and appreciating Iqbals poetry is not enough. Acting according to his guidance would be a real tribute to our national poet. IFTIKHAR SHAHEEN MIRZA, Islamabad, April 20.