BANAYA BANAYA APRIL FOOD BANAYA KAHI GUSSA TO NAHI AYYA

Pay heed, mischief-in-the-making ahead - Children and young professionals reveal plans on playing pranks on others

AAROHI KESHAV

Playing the fool: Actors perform in a Tim Supple-directed production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Telegraph picture Patna, March 31: The day to play the fool that could even impress Puck, the impish fairy of William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is here. Wonder what? Just check the calendar, it’s April 1. Though not a holiday, April Fools’ Day is widely celebrated all over. This is the day when you are let off in spite of playing practical jokes and the fool. Children are the most enthusiastic about the “celebrations” as they can have all the fun in the world and roll out in laughter on their success. Ten-year-old Akanksha Srivastava has already made her plans for April 1. She said: “I plan to hide inside the wardrobe before my sister gets up from sleep. When she’ll open the wardrobe to take out her clothes, I will grab her and frighten her.” Taking inspiration from television shows, a group of kids said they plan to stand in a group on a busy street. One of them, Chotu, said: “We will stare and point at the sky. Then we will simply wait for the reaction of the people standing around.” Subham Sekhar, 12, said: “I will paint my brother’s face with the colours left over from Holi to make him look like a cartoon. When he sees himself in the mirror, he will surely scream and run around.” Anirudh Kumar, a Class IX student, said: “We friends have planned to glue coins to the roads. The people who go on walks in the early morning will notice the coins and will try to grab them. It will be fun to watch as they will struggle to pick them up.” While Anirudh plans to go out on the streets to play pranks, a mischievous Sirisha Seth plans to pour sugar in the salt holder in her home. “I will just watch the expressions on the faces of my friends and family members when they try the food,” Sirisha said. “I will also get a bunch of alarm clocks and set them to ring early in the morning. My family members will have to be on a goose chase as I will hide them in different places,” she added. Young professionals are also making plans to play hoax in good humour. Kohinoor Dutta, a creative head, said: “I will send my friends a mail, calling them for a dinner at a restaurant. Promising them I’ll host the party, when everybody reaches the venue, I will make my exit once the bill arrives.” Copywriter Ajeet Sharma plans to lead his friends to a rude awakening, literally. Ajeet said: “I will call my friends early in the morning, disturbing their sleep to just say, ‘April fool banaya’. Although most of them will fume with anger, it will be fun for me.” Research associate Vicky Bansal plans to lead pizza companies and his friends on a tricky road, too. He said: “I plan to call Dominos Pizza at odd hours in the day. I’ll give them my friends’ addresses and get them to deliver all possible items to them. Once I had also called my mother, who used to stay alone, impersonating a pizza company employee, to tell her that she has won a lucky draw. I told her she will soon receive 12 large family size pizzas. She got shocked and started to plead with me. But then she realised it was me and started laughing.” So go ahead, play the fool. But be alert, don’t be fooled.