Bring out the Mob!

If you frequent Youtube as much as I do, you must’ve come across those videos where, in a crowded place music suddenly starts playing on some loudspeakers or public announcement systems, and then one or two (seemingly) random people from the busy crowd break out into a (seemingly) spontaneous dance, often synchronized or complimenting with each other. Well, you’ve just come across a video of a Flash Mob - it's sudden, spontaneous, fun and downright awesome.

I first saw a Flash Mob video maybe 2 years ago, I can’t remember where or how it was, but I remember breaking into a wide grin, laughing, feeling happy, and sharing that happy feeling with my friends by making them watch the video. I thought it was just one of those crazy antics on the Internet but the word “Flash Mob” remained in the back of my mind until slowly such videos started becoming more and more common online.

I did a little research on Flash Mobs and found a nice little article in Wikipedia which describes it as:

"a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression." 

The article gives two more definitions, one from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, and the other from the Websters New Millennium Dictionary of English, and all of the three definitions contain words like "pointless" and "bizarre", not because the blokes who write those things don't see the fun behind Flash Mobs, but because the definition also includes acts like a group of people suddenly assembling at one place and clapping for 5 minutes and suddenly dispersing. I would also think of such a thing as bizarre, but smile at it none the less. 

Well, the Wikipedia article also goes on to say what cannot be called a Flash Mob, namely:"events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals."

So now you know what is a Flash Mob and what isn't. To further break it down into a number of smaller steps:

All of them have almost the same premises – a crowded place where people are just going about their own business, not worried about what is going on around them except for their own purpose in mind, too busy to “stand and stare”, as one of my favourite poems, “Leisure” by William Henry Davies, says it.

Then out of no where a song starts playing through a loudspeaker or often the public announcement system of the location. People instinctively look up and try to locate the source of the sound, almost surprised by it. The wheels are thus set in motion!

While the music plays, one or more people from the crowd – oh they seem so random at first – start to dance to the song, synchronizing their moves with each other. The crowd still keeps on moving. But some slow down, if not entirely stop, to take a look at what in the hell is going on. Successful thus far!

As the crowd slows down its pace and takes notice (and takes a picture, with flash, at the same time), more (seemingly) random people join in from the crowd and start dancing like it’s nobody’s business. The crowd smiles, some cheer, some enthusiasts join in right then and there. We’re close!

Now more (seemingly) random people join in and the “act” has gotten everyone (well, almost) stopping to take a look. There is music, dance, cheering, smiles, and a general feeling of well-being among the people involved, those dancing and watching alike. We did it!

The crowd cannot keep on moving at this point, except for those really hard-pressed for time, and it “stands and stares” at the marvel unfolding in front of them. As the crowd dances and cheers, more people join in, either to dance or to cheer, but all of them to have their dose of fun.

And like everything else it comes to an end, and as abruptly as it started, the music stops and the dancing crowd disperses, all in different directions – no hugs, no victory signs, and no claps for themselves – it just moves on and blends with the larger crowd. Onlookers are as bewildered at this abrupt ending as they were at its spontaneous and abrupt start. But everyone walks away with a smile and a balloon of happiness inflating inside them.

The phenomenon has recently taken India by storm, with the country seeing its first Flash Mob in the busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai, one of the places where the heinous terrorist attacks of 2008 took place. That the Flash Mob took place on 27^th November, a day after the third anniversary of the event, was a symbolic reminder of the tragic incident. While the railway public service announcement system stopped for a full eight minutes, over 200 dancers danced to the tune of the hit Bollywood song, “Rang De Basanti.”

The Flash Mob was organized by Shonan Kothari, an avid Flash Mob fan, who took it upon herself to organize the event and sought all necessary clearances from relevant authorities to carry out the same.

The official video of the event, uploaded on Youtube by Shonan Kothari herself, went viral on social networks and has now received more than 1.8 million views.

The idea was replicated next in the southern city of Chennai, in a busyshopping mall, Express Avenue (awesome mall, huge and well-decked, with an awesome multiplex, Escape Cinema, at the top floor). It was organized by Suhasini Mani Ratnam, actress and wife of movie director Mani Ratnam. It was organized to promote the Chennai International Film Festival and also southern Superstar Rajnikanth’s birthday. Although the event went smoothly, featuring soundtracks from Rajnikanth’s latest movie, Endhiran (Robot), and the recent viral video, “Why This Kolaveri Di?” the fact that the Flash Mob was organized to promote a specific event, and that a huge red banner that is held up at the end of the video to broadcast the same, kind of make it not a Flash Mob. Such a Flash Mob would be termed as a Smart Mob.

The next cities in line were Hyderabad, with a Flash Mob organized at the GVKOne Mall the same evening as the one in Chennai, and Cochin, with a Flash Mob held at the Oberon Mall on 16^th December. While the former did not have any specific themes other than to “promote dancing in Hyderabad” (the organizer Zumba instructor Jegatha Muralidharan’s own words), the latter carried the theme of “No Hate Mate: Not Keralites, Not Tamilians, But Indians” keeping in mind the recent Mullaperiyar dam row between the State governments and people of the two southern states, and ends with a poignant flute rendering of the Indian National Anthem with the entire crowd singing it in attention.

Some of my favorite Flash Mobs:

1. There's this crazy bunch of people who do some pretty amazing things ranging from Flash Mobs to well, the rest I leave you to figure out for yourself. They're called "Improv Everywhere" and you should check out the videos on their Youtube channel. It is a group started by Charlie Todd and is based in New York City. What they do is take the idea of a Flash Mob to a whole different level. Theirs is a mission to do random acts which make people happy and in the process remind us about the things we used to value. Don't miss their "mp3 experiment", "Say Something Nice" and "The Mute Button". These guys will cheer you up any day you feel a bit down.

2. Oprah's 24th Season Kickoff Show had The Black Eyed Peas singing "I Gotta Feeling" and this lone girl starts some awesome moves up at the front of the crowd. A few people around her follow her steps, then the ones next to them follow suit and before you know it, the whole audience is dancing to the same steps. The look on Oprah's face is priceless. Let's see what will be look on your face once you're done watching this. 

3. School Kids Flash Mobs - you can just Google these four words and you'll be richly rewarded for your efforts. 'Nuff said!

4. Flash Mob Marriage Proposals - what better way to pop the question than in the middle of a dancing sequence, eh?

5. I guess this could be the first one I ever watched. The audience reaction is awesome.

And if, by now, you've become a fan of Flash Mobs yourself, here are some links to compilations of the Best Flash Mobs out there.

1. "Best Flash Mobs Ever" at bizarrebytes.com

2. "Top 7 Flash Mobs of All Time" at socialtimes.com

3. "15 Fab Flash Mob Videos on Youtube" at mashable.com

Earlier I called a Flash Mob a “marvel”. 

Now why would I associate such a nice word to describe it? 

To "marvel" is to be filled with wonder and astonishment. And what makes us do that? I guess doing something happy surely would. And when was the last time you did something on the spur of the moment and felt happy about it? I hope you're not one of those who has to look back all the way to childhood to find such a moment. What is so different from back then and now?

As we go about our daily grind we have lost one of the best things about childhood - the spirit of spontaneity, and the happiness and rush that comes with it. We have become slaves to the monotony of everyday life, bound within the moving hands of our watches and clocks. We have stopped to pause and enjoy the little things in life. 

And when we behold a sight of a random group of people coming together, an act big enough to grab our attention, we slow down if not entirely stop, and “marvel” at it, smile, and cheer, shed a tear and feel happy about it. Some of us maybe more spontaneous than the others and may join the dancers, some will stay back and cheer them, some will simply stop and smile; it would be sad if you were one of those who were too busy to “stop and stare” and had to rush past it, because just as you did, life will have rushed past you.