In a fool’s paradise

 Jasmine Singh

In Ireland, it is a tradition to entrust the victim with an important letter to be delivered to a prominent person. That person would then ask the victim to take it to someone else, and so on. And it reads… ‘Send the fool further.’ Lol! Now, in Ireland, and the prank is pretty much simple and easy. But that doesn’t happen everywhere, at least not in this part of the globe where people go as far as faking accident or death to highlight the importance of the April Fool’s Day. All the same, the tenor of practical jokes is also different with different people. Like our celebrities here have a different story to share….

Ouch, that hurts 

Rana Ranbir, actor comedian 

Well, I haven’t utilised this day to the fullest. I remember though this one time when my sister and I fooled my mother. My sister wrapped a bandage around her arm, kept some medicines by her side and told everyone that she fell from the balcony. It is only later, when the entire khaandan had gathered to ask about her well-being, she disclosed she was fooling us. You bet, she was rewarded and she got a good beating for faking her injury!

Show stealer 

Vattan Sandhu, singer

Once, I called a friend of mine, who is a singer by profession and told him that I have booked a live show for him in Rs 50,000 and asked him to meet me at a particular place. My friend came running in pyjamas and chappal. We had a good laugh at his expense. The best part is that he took it sportingly. 

Silence please

Anuj Sachdeva, actor 

Last year when I was shooting for the Punjabi film, Haani, I played a prank on the sets. I told everyone that I was in silent meditation, some kind of fast that I keep every year. I came on the sets, the director had planned my scene, and I wouldn’t speak a word. The director completely freaked out because it was the last scene. Everyone started interacting in sign language with me, later after an hour or so, I broke the fast. 

Eating out

Gurpreet Ghuggi, actor

After March 31 when everyone is done with filing their tax returns, next morning they realise that God has made one big fool out of us. Also, I remember as a kid, once I ate koftas from my teacher’s lunchbox and filled it back with water so that the quantity remained the same. That day my entire class got a good thrashing because no one owed up to the prank.