April Fool !!

I have some fantastic memories of Fool's Day at office.  It is amazing how April Fool's Day can make the environment at office so much fun and bring about wonderful bonding within teams!  Ever since  I have been part of the April Fool Pranked and Pranksters club, if I may call it so, it is my strong personal opinion that harmless, simple pranks in office can actually enliven and brighten up the workplace.

Pranks on me at office have included a situation where my computer, keyboard and monitor and mouse on my desk were taped up with cellophane tape, and I was not able to work as soon as I reached my desk in the morning!    On my birthday, random colleagues with  whom I never interacted before, turned up once each hour and handed me a rose!  Given my birthday falls on International Women's Day, they wished me Happy Women's Day instead of Happy Birthday!!  My manager also actively participated and helped my collegues in the pranks, and sometimes pranked us all against each other; at once too!

The pranks I plotted, included setting up a treasure hunt, planting anonymous flowers & New Year's calendars & chocolates on friends desks for them to discover them on New Year's Day, while they wondered who sent them and why; until they finally discovered !!

I have truly fond memories of my friend setting up an elaborate prank wherein the prankster called the "prankee" on phone, and took an interview asking questions like favorite movie actor, favorite movie song, and all such things, following the pattern of questions like one of an ongoing Radio Show; and then asking them to listen to their interview when it is aired at a particular time; and insisting that the prankee inform all friends and relatives to listen in to the channel at that time!  In our case, it was real fun, since the time of the "airing" of the interview was supposed to coincide with the time when we travelled back home in the office bus; and the radio would usually be tuned to this channel on in the bus! When at the said time, the interview did not air, everyone on the bus jumped "April Fool"  !  Oh, the poor "prankee" was initially embarrassed a little, but the prankster had set up a little treat in the form of a small snack of pastry to celebrate the fun part of it thus eliminating the embarrassment! 

It's important that pranks are not overdone for then they are more embarrassing and less fun.  Once the balance is right, truly they have the potential to become the fondest memories in life!!

So, to whoever invented the idea of Pranks on April Fool's Day,  Here's Three Cheers! 

On New Year's Eve!

"I do think New Year's resolutions can't technically be expected to begin on New Year's Day, don't you? Since, because it's an extension of New Year's Eve, smokers are already on a smoking roll and cannot be expected to stop abruptly on the stroke of midnight with so much nicotine in the system. Also dieting on New Year's Day isn't a good idea as you can't eat rationally but really need to be free to consume whatever is necessary, moment by moment, in order to ease your hangover. I think it would be much more sensible if resolutions began generally on January the second" ~Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary

"Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average… which means, you have met your New Year's resolution" ~Jay Leno

"People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas" ~ Anonymous

"Ring out old shapes of foul disease; Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace." ~Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam, 1849.

Blogger's Block!

I am delighted that I am recovering from my writer's block - or should we call it blogger's block!

I have never written more than 1 post in a span of 1 week but, I can feel the vibrance inside me. Looking through the statistics of my past blogs, I have never managed to cross the half a dozen blogs per year mark! 2007 was a drought in terms of blogs for me. 2006 was much better, but I was beginning to enter the block towards the end of that year! If I was a professional writer, I would have had to live off my savings in 2007 uptil now!

It is really amazing how one year comes and goes. It feels like last week, when I was penning that poem about what life holds for me etc. It seems like yesterday I was penning the other poem about the new year! But, I realize these poems are almost a year apart from each other and further behind from today! At this rate, another new year will come and go quite soon. Time flies usually. It's probably only when one is healing from something troublesome that it doesn't!

It is interesting how blogs can help one realize what was happening this day that year! I am amazed that during Q3 each year, I am generally thinking about the future! Even now, as I pen this blog, 2008 is one year I am happily waiting to bid good bye! It is interesting how perspective has changed over time. In my poem last December I was pondering about how time seldom keeps its promises and all that. Today, I am quite excited and positive about entering a new year and glorifying the change of the year and all that! Exactly the opposite perspective as in that poem!

Amazing indeed!

Extrapolating forward, I think October next year too will be a time, when I would be pondering about the future! Time will tell.

My tryst with toothache!

A couple of weeks ago, I had this toothache that engulfed every moment of my life while it was there. Anyone who has had a toothache would be able to identify the pain that I had to go through.

Yes, but those who haven't had one, are truly lucky and I envy them. I wish no one in this world ever has to bear a toothache. The truly most creative people are those who themselves have never had a toothache, but they find some folks like me who are suffering their heart out and are able to crack their best jokes happily - even while they see the person suffering with the pounding pain!

Just to explain what I just said - I had this huge swelling on my right cheek while my tooth was aching. The infection was bad, it was pounding with pain. I had been to the dentist, yes, but the pain was still there and it took a while for the swelling to come down. But, during those few days of pain, I have heard the best jokes ever! One of them said "Hey, she's put on weight only on one side of her cheek!" Tell that to someone who hasn't been able to put on weight despite trying her hardest and she would be delighted! Well, almost!

Another person said "You look cute with a swollen cheek, Must have it evenly swollen on the other side, you'll look cuter". Now, if this is being said to someone who has the swelling due to pain, you are actually hinting that the person has double the pain!!! :-P

Then there are these set of people who try to diagnose the cause of the toothache. They would say "Hmmm, you had too much chocolate, this is due to that". Or worse still, "Don't you brush your teeth!????"

Amazing - I've heard a good mix of the most tasteless and humourous jokes during this period and truly the jokes would be more memorable for me than the toothache itself !!!