Fools rush in

I thought and thought and thought but couldn't come up with any suitable April Fool's Day prank to play in office without getting fired. Any ideas?

And while you are thinking, you should consider checking out this survey on April Fool's Day pranks in the US

While some pranks are specifically designed for nerds

Others involve eating your books

And don't worry about the Internet. It's April Fool's Day here all year round

Shakuntala, Sita, Surpanakha...

Scherazade writes in to tell me her play Retellings is being staged at Mumbai's Prithvi Theatre next week. Unfortunately, I can't leave New Delhi right now but I urge all my Mumbai readers to make a beeline for Prithvi on 3rd and 4th April.

What Retellings is all about
Shakuntala, Sita, Surpanakha. Three women trapped in mythology find their voice. Shakuntala takes on Kalidasa, accusing the master playwright of legitimising her lover's betrayal, even as she celebrates the season of her love. As Lanka erupts in the flames of the Aryan invasion, Sita and Surpanakha find their stories intertwining.

Directed by: Scherazade Kaikobad
Cast: Amrita Puri, Vandita Vasa
Venue: Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai
Date: 3rd, 4th April 2007
Time: 9 pm
Tickets: Rs 50
Duration: An hour
Bookings: 09821163832

And those interested in the playwriting aspect of things can attend a FREE workshop on 'Myth and Structure' conducted by Ram Ganesh Kamathan at 4 pm at the same venue on both days. For registration, call - 09820356150

Just an SMS going around

The BCCI (Board of Control of Cricket for India) has refused Richard Branson's (of Virgin Airlines fame) offer to sponsor the Indian cricket team. Why?

We can't have VIRGIN written on our shirts, when we're getting f****d in every match

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What is Italy's national language?

The English speak English, the French speak French, the Germans speak German and the Italians...Well, they didn't quite speak Italian till last week.

My Driver's Driving Me Nuts

(translated from the original Hindi+Punjabi)
...inder: Saab ji, this Indian cricket team is no good. Losing to Sri Lanka is ok but losing to Bangladesh - Chee! Chee! Chee!
Me: Hmmmmm (This is going to be a long night)
...inder: All the oldies should be kicked out. They have fallen in love with AC life, tandoori chicken and starring in cola ads
Me: Ya, right
...inder: The minimum cutoff age should be 23
Me: Why?
...inder: At that age you still have some josh. After that you are useless
Me: Really? (Have I lost my josh already?)
...inder: Saab ji, I bet if you ask Ganguly to run to that traffic signal over there, he won't even reach halfway
Me: Hmmmmm (neither will I)
...inder: Same with me - I drive around all day so I am not fit. Players should be recruited from among youngsters who are healthy and those who don't laze around in sofas and chairs
Me: Hmmmmm (is he referring to me?)
...inder: I have thought a lot about what could be done to save Indian cricket and I'll tell you all
Me: @$#*%!

And the YouTube video of 2006 is

'Ok go - Here it goes again' was chosen the best in the Most Creative category

Wanna get married to my wife?

You love your wife. Your wife loves someone else. What do you do? Ask her lover to get married to her. And the three of you live happily together. Impossible, you say. But that's the premise of the first ever feature film to emerge from Arunachal Pradesh.

Ahsan Muzid's film 'Sonam' depicts the practice of polyandry among the Brokpas, yak shepherds who live on the mountain slopes in Tawang. This tradition, based on a custom of the Monpa society, is still being followed in remote areas.

Muzid explores how this complex way of life affects relationships. Sonam, a woman caught between two husbands, is torn between her love for one and her loyalty to the other. She wastes away until she finds ultimate atonement in her own death.

'Sonam', made in the Monpa dialect with English subtitles, has garnered a clutch of awards at various film festivals, most recently at the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Images (MAMI) festival. And righty so. Muzid must be feted for his technical finesse and his ability to eke out emotions from first-time actors.

It must have been a struggle to shoot 'Sonam' in a state where film culture is absent and that too at such high altitudes. Tawang district looks absolutely breathtaking on screen and I wonder if the state government is doing enough to promote it a tourist attraction. Hoping to see other films from the region. Coz there are enough tales waiting to be told.

Rating: ***

Remarks: The good thing is Muzid doesn't go overboard with melodrama. His story, which has universal appeal, is his strong point. His characters are believable and their emotions true to life.

Sonam
120 mins - 35 mm Cinemascope
Direction/Screenplay - Ahsan Muzid

ALSO READ
Deccan Herald review
The Hindu review

An advisory to Indian cricket fans

India lost. Big deal! It's amazing how every Tom, Dick and Harry (or rather Om, Manik and Hari) is ready to maul the Indian cricket team. Come on, guys - they just had an off day.

Everybody has an off day. Even you Mr Architect, Doctor, Engineer, Peon, Singer, BPO Worker, Driver, Politician. How many times have you screwed up something at work? Does that mean you get fired every time?

It's easy for you to criticise - you there with the potbelly in that comfy armchair waxing eloquent on everything that's wrong with Indian cricket today. Would you have done better out there on that very same pitch? Nah, I didn't think so.

The worst offenders are the ones who keep saying they'll never again watch cricket on the telly. But come the next match, they tiptoe towards the remote control and sink into that cosy sofa and relapse into a harangue against Sehwag, Dravid, Chappell or whoever else is scheduled for the day's battering.

"How dare you Toe Knee," you say. "You don't even watch cricket." Ok, so I don't watch cricket but does being someone who loves cricket give you enough leeway to make sick SMS jokes or even attack poor Dhoni's house?

Why don't you behave the same way when Sania Mirza loses a match or Viswanathan Anand fumbles? Aaaaahh! I keep forgetting you don't care two hoots about anything other than cricket.

You were the ones who pumped up the Indian cricket team before their infamous defeat saying stuff like 'Blue Billion' and 'Hoo Haa India'. And now you are disappointed they lost. So what? People have bad days but they have good days too. Maybe now they will revamp the team and we'll put in a good showing in the next tournament.

Don't tell me you'll never watch cricket after this. I know, for sure, that you are lying.

And for those of you who are serious about this, Crazy Journo explores why politicians are thinking of making kabaddi the national game of India.

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The Basics: If a failed 'motivational speaker' dad, a suicidal gay uncle, a stressed mom, a heroin-snorting grandpa and a Nietzsche-loving brother were not enough, little Olive Hoover has a quirk of her own. She wants to win the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. When Olive gets selected for the finals, the Hoover family pack into their Volkswagen mini-bus for a two-day road trip to California.

What I think: One of the reasons I loved Little Miss Sunshine was that it featured a dysfunctional American family, not the Lived-Happily-Ever-After ones usually depicted in Hollywood cinema. And though the Hoovers go through several distressing events on their way to California, you can only laugh as they deal with one problem after another.

A dark comedy that warms the cockles of one's heart, the film is both funny and touching. The characters are flesh-and-blood human beings and I found myself warming to each of them.

Regrets: Alan Arkin didn't quite deserve an Oscar for his role as Grandpa. Am not finding fault with his acting but then he's barely there for 15 minutes. Am being mean but probably the Academy wanted to honour the veteran actor before he passed away. That said, the film deserves a separate Oscar for Best Ensemble Cast.

Rating: ****

Remarks: Feeling blue? DO NOT MISS IT