What a lot of fun we had on April Fools’ Day at school. April 1st was a great excuse to get away with all kinds of mischief. We could even play tricks on the teachers! I used to think it was only kids that had fun on April Fools’ Day but when I first heard from my father that even the ABC radio plays tricks on April Fools’ Day I was delighted.
And apparently in 1957 the BBC played a wonderful trick on their television audiences. They broadcast a documentary about spaghetti crops in Switzerland featuring a family from Ticino carrying out their annual spaghetti harvest. It showed women carefully plucking strands of spaghetti from a tree and laying them in the sun to dry. Richard Dimbleby explained how each year the end of March is a very anxious time for spaghetti harvesters all over Europe as severe frost can impair the flavour of the spaghetti. He also explained how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length thanks to years of hard work by generations of growers. Apparently some viewers in England were so impressed they rang the station asking where they could obtain their own spaghetti bush. You can view the program on the BBC website at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm
I like the idea of a day when everyone joins together to have fun, to play tricks on each other and indulge in childishness. Wonderful. April Fools’ Day takes place not long after India’s fun day/s called Holi (Festival of Colours) which usually happens in March. People let loose in the streets with coloured powder and everyone gets splashed with bright colours. Everyone is fair game and the usual social restrictions are ignored. Everywhere you look you see people with colourful faces, hair and clothes; even the dogs are rainbow coloured. It’s a day of fun and harmless mischief.
I believe Holi is enthusiastically celebrated in many areas of Australia, although sadly not in my suburb. So nice of the Indian people to migrate to Australia and bring us another fun day!
