It was one of those moments when Preeta Kakkar wanted to clobber her boyfriend. It was their "first meeting anniversary" and all that she was looking forward to was a cozy, romantic evening with Nikhil. "There I was in a lovely new outfit, all dolled up, waiting outside my office (he'd specifically asked me not to get my car, saying he'll pick me up), " she says. But Nikhil seemed to have got stuck in traffic, or so she thought. "For he was taking quite a while. " As Preeta waited, two of her colleagues also joined her for a little chat. Just then an auto zoomed up to where they stood. "Startled, we all started shouting at the driver, when suddenly I realised it was none other than Nikhil! Can you imagine - he'd borrowed an auto for half an hour just to play a prank on me. It was his idea of a surprise. Had I been alone, it would have still been okay but since he turned up in front of my colleagues driving an auto, I was so embarrassed. "

Talking about the incident, the otherwise quiet medico Nikhil Abrol laughs, "Preeta was ready to kill me and sulked for nearly half of the evening after that. It was a joke - wished she'd seen the trouble I took just to do something different on our special day, right from paying the autowallah triple the amount for those few minutes and treating him to chai and chhole-bhature and, what's more, even letting him sit in the airconditioned comfort of my car, listening to music (all part of the bribe). Now, of course, she laughs about it but rues the fact that her colleagues were around. " Preeta wonders if it'll be a rickshaw next! "Now I know, I can't put anything past him. "

Childish is how Preeta sums up Nikhil's behaviour but as psychiatrist Dr Sanjay Chugh says, "On the contrary, the guy's a rockstar. He knows how to enjoy life. " Adds consulting psychiatrist Dr Avdesh Sharma, "There's a child in all of us that often gets lost as we grow up. It's seldom allowed to surface because of the social persona we take on. " But as he says, this carefree aspect of our personality is often seen at reunions and parties with childhood friends.

Chugh says the idea is to let your hair down more often. And that's what ad executive Amit Sikka's wife did at a recent party. "The dress code was a sexilyworn saree which all of us fun-loving ladies were wearing, " laughs the attractive 30-year-old Susmita. A little into the evening, as spirits were flowing, some of the girls got a wee bit tipsy and took to the floor. "Amit was horrified when I took the pallu off my shoulder and wrapped it around my waist and did what he later called 'a little bar dance'. Now, even though he laughs it all off, I'm sure he still feels embarrassed thinking about it, even though there were other women on the floor with me. "

Doing 'silly stuff' once in a while is what keeps the zing in a relationship, asserts dentist Sushant Kidwai. Says wife Ritu, "Soon after we got married, I became a victim of this 'mantra of life' that he advocates all the time. " This happened while the duo was watching a movie. "In the middle of the film, I went to the bathroom and came back to my seat. Feeling slightly mushy, I was almost snuggling up to Sushant when this strange voice said, "Excuse me?" and I died because it certainly wasn't Sushant's voice. " In those few moments that Ritu had been away, the good doctor decided to change places with his neighbour! "It was all done for fun - I was keeping tabs on the guy, " laughs Sushant. But Ritu was in no mood for this and walked off in a huff. "Obviously, I couldn't have sat there!" she says.

Why must only youngsters have all the fun, asks 44-year-old Ranjan Sinha who deliberately deserted his wife for a while after a grand meal at a swanky restobar. "I had to walk out to take an international call and that's when the idea of this prank hit me. I switched off my phone and from a distance was watching Niharika getting furious by the minute, especially since she wasn't carrying her purse. But her act to appear nonchalant was commendable. " And when he made an appearance after a good half an hour, "I was ready to kill him, " says Niharika who works with an MNC. "I was all set to convince the staff that we were not freeloaders and that my darling husband was suffering from Alzheimer's, but still I can't imagine that Ranjan could have had such a silly moment of madness - at my cost. It was highly embarrassing. " Dr Sharma says, "The trick is to loosen up and keep playing pranks to feel young and emotionally healthy. This can be done as long as you're not hurting or embarrassing anyone. "

Adds Goa-based spiritual healer Patrick, "Life is not to be taken seriously. The idea is to have a blast. Have fun, be fun - nobody likes serious people around all the time. The idea is to have a laugh - not at others but with others because happiness creates a ripple effect. " When physicist Nivedita attended her first party, post-marriage, in Oslo, the small gathering wouldn't stop admiring her saree. "They couldn't believe it was actually six-yards long and that's when my (American) husband Philip, feeling very proud of my 'accomplishment' insisted I give a saree-tying demonstration. Of course I didn't ... and realised that he perhaps didn't know that we Indian women are extra coy in front of strangers. But his logic was - you were covered up (by which he meant in a petticoat and blouse) so what's the big deal? Thankfully, I got out of that situation and he too knows better than embarrassing me like this! Guess it's all got to do with cultural differences, " she laughs.