Just ‘fool’ing around…

As usual, my friend and I got talking about this and that. He mentioned about some function happening on the 1st of April. The conversation got steered away and we ended up talking about “fools’ day” and the things associated with it, like the pranks and practical jokes, which people take sportively just on shouting “APRIL FOOL” at the end of it! On this day that strict boss whom you dare not approach on being fooled will forgive you for fooling him. And the friends who know you so well will definitely kick your butt for fooling them! So, it is a perfect day for just fooling around and being fooled!

I vaguely remember reading about why the 1st of April is called the fools’ day. So, why is it called the fools’ day?

Well, there are many stories on the internet regarding this matter. It is believed that in the middle ages the New Year’s Day was celebrated on the 25th of March in many European towns. In France, apparently, the celebrations went on for a week, till the 1st of April. It is thought of that those people who celebrated the New Year’s Day on the 1st of January made fun of the former regarding this. And then eventually, the jokes spread out and wide about various things and issues and all people worldwide slowly joined in the fun of fooling with their particular brand of humor.

Then there is another lesser known version that is related to our mythology. Everybody knows about the epic Mahabharata and all the characters involved in it. When the battle of Kurukshetra was going on, the king Dhritarashtra, who was blind, sitting in his palace, wanted to see what was going on in the battle. Sanjaya had been bestowed by a vision to see events happening in far off lands. So, the king asked Sanjaya to tell him what is happening in the battle. In the course of his commentary, Sanjaya said, “ohh.. Duryodhana is dead!!” Silence. Dhritarashtra’s heart stopped beating for a second. Then Sanjaya said “Hah! I fooled you!” In panchangas that day was the 1st of April…

If you bought this story, I did fool you. :D I just made that up! Do I see a smile? Well, now it is your turn. Go fool someone else, spin some yarn, pull some pranks. All is forgiven this day. :)

A parting thought-

Mark Twain says - It’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and leave no doubt.