I was dumbfounded by the news that made the headlines in The Himalayan Times last April Fool’s day. The band 1974 AD was performing a title track for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Indiana Jones sequel was indeed sensational news. I imagined how Hollywood hunk Harrison Ford would fit in Adrian Pradhan’s vocal. But it was fake and the nation’s No 1 English daily fooled us all.

— Nischal Poudyal

I was new to the organisation and one of our superiors was a very serious person. We had not seen him laugh and all of us were very quite scared of him. On April Fool’s Day, our office was the usual serious place and even by 5:00 pm no one had played a prank on anyone. Then I took a blank sheet of paper, and scribbled on it, put it into an envelope and wrote ‘Resignation letter’ on it. I knocked on the door of my superior and handed him letter as he was talking with some of our colleagues. He was shocked as well as the other colleagues. My superior was quiet for a moment and opened the letter and read aloud “APRIL FOOL”. He smiled and the rest broke into laughter. Since then, whenever I approach him with an envelope, he smiles.

— Samden Ghale

My sister gave birth to a lovely child on this fool’s day and when the relatives were informed about the new arrival, everybody kept down the phone thinking ‘Hh... making April fool’. Nobody came to see the new baby and the mother. But by evening everyone knew on whom the joke was on.

— Sandeep Agrawal

My hubby Niloy is a cleanliness freak. We had just returned from Mumbai after spending a very exhausting holiday and we weren’t able to think of anything other than having a rest for or a day or two. While Niloy had to rush to office, I oiled my hair and prepared to take a quick nap. Suddenly the phone rang, and Niloy said that one of his friends would be visiting us in the evening. Despite my unwillingness I got up to clean the house, took a bath at an odd hour, unpacked our luggage, got the food ready and waited for the guests to come. When no one turned up, I rang Niloy to enquire about the time they had mentioned when suddenly he told me to check the date! April 1. Now on I mark the date in RED on all my calendars.

— Nupur Bhattacharya

It was really exciting and interesting to play pranks, but hardly does anyone care to think what harm it can bring. As the saying goes ‘the one who wears the shoe, knows where it pinches’. So before we seriously make a fool out of somebody, we better think of what it may lead to. Of course, small pranks may be harmless but it may as well lead to serious consequences.

— Astala Bista

Though I’m always careful to keep guard against those who eagerly wait for this day, my husband often invites trouble due to his gullible nature. Taking advantage of this, I once thought to teach him a lesson. A few years ago when we were in Pokhara, he used to go for a morning walk regularly. On this April Fool’s day as soon as he got back, I told him that there was a call from one of his senior officers who wanted him to go pick him up. He wasted no time to hire a taxi and leave for the airport. But thinking that it would be a sheer waste of money, I called him back and explained the truth.

— Ambika Pandey

I was still in my bed when my sister woke me up to tell that that Prime Minister Deuba had been shot dead. It was more than just sensational news to me and I quickly wanted to confirm it. I went to the paper stall only to realise that it was an April fool’s day.

— Pranav Gautam

Last year, one of my friends invited me to a party as he stood first in his class. Knowing that it was an April Fool’s day, I didn’t believe him and stayed at home. But the next day when I met him he showed me photographs of the party. Fate seemed determined to have made me a fool anyways it seemed.

— Aditya Mundhara

It was a really memorable and funny incident that I will always remember. I visited a gift shop and spent almost half fumbling around for gifts. After I chose one, I ordered the shopkeeper to wrap it twice. After that I told him that I’d be back in a minute while I got into the taxi and never showed him my face again.

— Govinda Shivakoti

In our village, we have great fun fishing in a nearby river. Last April Fool’s Day my mentor, a talented fisherman said that he had seen a small shark school in river. I immediately ran to check for myself only to stop in my tracks realising that I’d been made the April fool.

— Manoj Kumar Pant

On April Fool’s Day, I told our hostel warden that a friend had run away from the hostel. The warden was so worried that he immediately started calling the police. Seeing this, I told him it was April Fool’s Day, which got him so angry that he did not talk to me nicely for three days.

— Sarose Sharma

I remember that day vividly. It was four years ago when I was still in my high school. After my classes at college, I had returned to the hostel. While on the way to my room, someone called me from behind and said that Priya (who was my best friend) had got an electric shock. I immediately went to my classmates’ room and told them that. Before they could say anything, I got my bicycle and sped to the hospital. I combed the entire hospital looking for her and asked the emergency staff if anyone with that name had been admitted to the hospital. After trying for almost half an hour bring, I returned to my hostel and spent one hell of a sleepless night. The next morning, when I was on the way to my college, I found Priya at the main gate of college exuberantly talking with other friends. She gently come close to me and said in a sweet voice, “Happy April Fool’s day”. Oh, what a fool I’d been!

— Suresh Bhatta