Celebrating Fools' Day...

"The first of April, some do say, is set apart for All Fools' Day. But why the people call it so, Nor I, nor they themselves do know. But on this day are people sent on purpose for pure merriment." Rightly said by Poor Robin's Almanac about Fools' Day.

The Encyclopedia of Religion and the Britannica associate the celebration of 1^st April as Fools’ Day with the arrival of spring, where nature ‘fools’ mankind with erratic weather, we twist the realities to suit us and play pranks on others…

But then we do want to know what the reason behind the whole affair is, so we decided to test the general knowledge of some of our television hunks. Here’s what they have to say…..

Gaurav Khanna:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
Umm…why is 1^st April fools’ day? I really don’t know. It’s a pretty weird and silly tradition that we follow. I guess it must have been the birthday of the person who started the tradition and he felt that he should gift the world a fool.

So are you a prankster or the victim on April Fools’ Day?
Well you could say both. I have been fooled and have fooled people too.

Can you share your experiences?
Hussein’s wife, Tina played a prank on me which lasted for a month. She pretended to be an obsessive fan and would call me up wanting to meet me. It was quite funny and all my co-stars assisted her in fooling me.

Also, I was a big prankster when in college. I used to mimic Amitabh Bachchan, when he was hosting KBC and call my friends and say that they had won a chance to be on the hot seat.

Manav Gohil:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
I don’t know. It has been an ongoing tradition and there definitely must be some history behind it. There could be a possibility that a great fool was born on this day, that’s why we celebrate the day. Or it could be a commemoration of his death.

Prankster or victim?
More of a prankster I would say. People very rarely play pranks on me, but I have fooled a lot of people.

Experiences?
I played this prank in school. I had learned a trick wherein I had to fool people by saying that I had cut my finger with a blade. So I borrowed a blade from my friend in class on the pretext of sharpening my pencil. And I made a scene in the class saying I cut my finger. But in reality, the blood was just a mixture of oil and kumkum, and the blade was cut and fixed in my finger so it looked like it had pierced my skin.

Sid Makkar:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
You know what, I have no clue. I just know that it’s been a long time tradition and it has been marked as fools’ day right from the time I was in school. I did think back, but I have never really dwelled on it much. You can tell me if you know…. (Laughs).

Prankster or victim?
A mixture of both.

Experiences?
A very nasty prank was played on me. A friend of mine called me saying a famous director wanted to meet up with regarding a role in his movie. And they set up the time and place for the meeting. When I reached the place, I met someone else who claimed to be the director’s assistant. He sat with me, explaining the role and I had to travel from my house to the suburbs just to meet him.

I played a prank on one of classmates when I was back in school. He was a guy who had got several detentions, so I went up to him and said that I overheard from someone in the staffroom that he was being expelled from school. The poor guy was so scared and shattered that he did not even realize it was the 1^st of April.

Samir Sharma:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
I have no idea. It has been going on for eons and I guess we are just following the tradition. No matter who came up with it, I think it’s a good idea as it’s a fun thing to do. But I guess there must have been a really big fool in history and probably it started from there on.

Prankster or Victim
Both.I mean no one can play a joke on someone if they can't take one can they?

Experiences?
, a friend of mine and me, both told him that we had major argument because of a girl and were not talking to each other. In fact, to make it believable, we even fought in front of him in college. It looked so real that the poor guy actually thought we had fought and he refused to believe either of us even when we told him it was just a prank.

Yeah I was also made a fool. It was when I was doing a show called Dil Kya Chahta Hai. The whole unit was in on the prank. There was a particular scene that I had to do and I was told that I had to kiss my male co-actor. I completely freaked out but they kept insisting that it was part of the script. The producer also yelled at me saying he will chuck me out of the show, but I was adamant and said I would not kiss a male actor.
Gaurav Chopra:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
Is that a factual question you’re asking me? Well…I know that there is a story behind it. I don’t know if it was the Egyptians or the Romans but it was said that on this day, one of the court jester was made the king for a day. I think the other reason had something to do with the new calendar. I read about it when I a kid.

Prankster or Victim?
I would say more of victim. I get a little touchy when it comes to playing pranks on people as my birthday is on 4^th April and people always say to me that I missed being born on fools’ day by three days. So I generally do not play pranks. But yeah I do fall prey to a lot of pranks.

Prank played on you:
I was supposed to be going for a shoot and had to fly in from . My ticket was booked and suddenly I got a call from someone from Jet Airways, saying that due to some problem my flight had been cancelled. The shoot was very urgent as the telecast was the next day. So I called up my producer and said that the flight is cancelled and they were completely paranoid. We even got into an argument and half an hour later they told me it was a prank.

Sudeep Sahir:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
Umm… I am not very sure but from what I have heard is that long time back, people used to celebrate 1^st of April as New Year’s day. Later it was changed to 1^st January but they were still people who celebrated 1^st April as New Year’s so they fooled them on that that day.

Prankster or Victim?
Neither. See I am a very good boy and I don’t usually play pranks on anybody. And it has been quite some time since anyone has played a prank on me.

Prank played on you:
My wife and my colleague’s wife once did attempt to play a prank on me. They are best of friends and said that they had a huge argument. And both my friend and his wife were supposed to come over for dinner. Both of us were pretty scared that they might not talk to each other, but in the end we learnt that it was just to fool us.

Vikas Mankatala:

Why is 1^st April Fools’ Day?
Ok, that is a pretty tough question. I guess a big fool must have been born on that day or something like that. It could probably have been started by someone who wanted to make the day chirpy on everyone around him.

Prankster or victim?
Definitely prankster.
I have played a lot of pranks on people. Back in school I was a very naughty kid, but good at studies. There was one teacher who was quiet fond of me. So when he was taking attendance, I walked up to him with a candy. But actually it was not a candy, it was bitter medicine. So as the teacher was taking the attendance, he popped it in his mouth and just when he took a boy’s name, he felt the bitter taste and threw up right in front of the whole class. We all started laughing and the teacher chased me throughout the room to hit me (laughs).

Well this is what the stars have to say about April Fools' Day. Now it's up to you readers to decide if they are right or wrong.. All we can say is this...

April 1st is filled with 'giggles and smiles',
It is okay to have fun...
But don't do things to "hurt" other people.
Treat others as you would want them to treat you.
...now go and have a bit of harmless fun." :-)