The first of April

It is only fair that if you have an international mother’s day, father’s day, and even a women’s day, there should also be a date in the annual calendar that is devoted to fools. Like Shakespeare, I have a great regard for clowns, especially after reading Twelfth Night Act 1, Scene 5, where the Fool quotes an imaginary philosopher Quinapalus and says “better a witty fool, than a foolish wit”. 

So, in the Middle Ages, some countries in Europe and the United Kingdom decided to set aside one day to play practical jokes and harmless pranks upon their unsuspecting neighbours. They picked the first of April to do so and called it April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day. Newspapers published hoaxes and other fraudulent stories on their front pages, which were clarified later on. 

In my home country India, which is heavily influenced by its film industry, they even made an entire movie in the year 1964 to honour this day. It was called, “April Fool” and starred the dancing sensation of the time, Shammi Kapoor and the svelte, Saira Bano. The three-hour long picture had songs with lyrics like “I made an April fool out of you, you got annoyed with me; it’s not my fault but the world’s blunder that it created a day like this”. In all seriousness the bouffant haired hero croons the nonsensical number to the Boy George lookalike heroine. 

This yesteryears actress had such an uncanny resemblance to the British singer that he could very well pass off as her son or daughter. The ambiguity, of course, is because of George Alan O’Dowd’s flamboyant and androgynous image, where he loved dressing up as a woman. 

In the small town where I was raised, I had a friend who was born on this unfortunate date. The poor chap was at the receiving end of practical jokes from day one. For starters, nobody believed the news of his birth, including his own father. The story goes that there were some celebrations going on at the local club and when his dad was pulled aside to be told that his wife had gone into labour, he laughed it off as a prank. 

Sometime later, he was informed of the arrival of his son, which also he did not believe because of the date being April the first. It was only when the fourth or the fifth person congratulated him that he actually got into his car in order to drive to the hospital to greet the newborn. 

I never looked forward to any other birthday party with as much enthusiasm as I did this one. My siblings and I started preparing much in advance. Frogs or cockroaches were caught and placed in a shoebox, which would be made heavier by adding some rocks in it. Then the noisy trick would be applied where a single rubber band went around a bangle, which was later twisted with a button and wrapped inside a paper packet. The minute you opened it, a loud thwack sound erupted that would make the recipient jump up and drop the box. Every single time I saw this, I would be reduced to an endless fit of giggles. 

After ages I met my old friend recently. 

“How did you cope then?” I was curious.

“With wit and charm,” he replied. 

“And now?” I asked. 

“With more wit and more charm,” he laughed. 

“Happy birthday witty fool,” I laughed back.