When was the last time you played a practical joke on your boss? Did you place that whoopee cushion on his chair, which made embarrassing noises when he sat down? Did you put sneezing powder amid his cigars? In all probability, you have never even dreamt of doing any of these things. In India, the boss is to be revered; you can?t make him the butt of a joke without running the risk of being out on the street the next day.

Yet, among HR professionals all over the world, there is a growing realisation that fun at work can contribute enormously to productivity and employee satisfaction. ?A ?fun workplace? does not have to be an oxymoron,? says Dave Hemsath, author of 301 Ways to have Fun at Work. ?An environment that fosters fun is characterised by positive energy, high self-esteem and team spirit. Fun contributes to the creation of an environment that nurtures and sustains what we call employee ?want to?. You cannot put a price on ?want to?.?

It doesn?t have to be your boss who is the target. Take a look at how some people have been having fun. Playfair ? a US-based organisation that conducts programmes in team-building, stress management, and internal customer service ? has been trying to promote April 1 as the International Fun at Work Day. It has been collecting examples from across the world. Here?s a sampler: • At Sprint headquarters in Kansas City, a parking lot was transformed into a beach, with sand trucked in, live music, etc. for all the ?vacationing? employees.

• At the Global Service Centre of MasterCard International, the employees celebrated the day as ?Dress Your Supervisor/Manager Day?. Anyone with direct reports was dressed up by their employees. There were a few ground rules; the dressing up had to be gender specific and no skin. There were supervisors dressed as nuns, biker chicks, a joker. All this did not affect the work, however; it was business as usual.

Can this culture spread to India? In the New Economy companies, certainly. Many, particularly those with a foreign tie-up, do emphasise the fun aspect. Says Perot Systems: ?We believe in providing the right mix between work and fun.? The company organises dances and jam sessions. It has a 3D (drinks, dance and dinner) programme for the unmarried and a Spouse and Spice equivalent for those who have already tied the knot.

At NIIT, they have rasogolla-eating contests. ?Work and fun go hand in hand,? says the company. At Cadbury India, a traditional fuddy-duddy company, fun has been introduced over the past few years. You now have piped music and a gym. At some organisations ? Aviva, NIIT, HealthScribe ? there is even a new expanded form for CFO ? Chief Fun Officer. Jindal Iron & Steel Company has a Chief Josh Officer. That could be considered a sign that even traditional companies are seeing the light.

But even before it has taken off, the wet blankets have got into action. Says Employer-Employee.com: ?Whether it is throwing a fish, squirting each other with water guns, or throwing a pie in the CEO?s face, fun at work is a hot topic and one that many companies, small and large, are attempting to implement.? But you must have rules. That translates to a list of Don?ts: Fun is not making fun of co-workers or management (No mimicking, no teasing, no mocking); Fun is not telling jokes; Fun is not practical jokes or pranks; Fun is not sexual; Fun is not deceptive; Fun is not gambling; Fun is not sarcastic; Fun is not making fun of the company.

Fun, in short, is not fun.