The escalators stopped moving. The mall shoppers forgot their shopping — there was silence in one of the busiest venues in Kochi.
A big group of young men and women took Oberon Mall by surprise on a December day when they walked right in and without any warning, loosened their feet on the mall floor.
The meaning behind their gesture lay hanging from the stairs in banners coloured orange, white and green – “Not Tamilians, Not Keralites, But Indians.” The first flash mob in Kochi was on.
“We did it for the Mullaperiyar cause,” says Mathew John, who, with his friend Sharath George initiated the event. Mathew, who works in an investment firm in Kochi, was inspired by the Mumbai flash mob in late November held at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, led by 23-year-old Shonan Kothari.
“I roped in 25 friends of mine, who further spread the word and on the day we had around 160 people with us. Visitors to the mall also joined us and we had dancers aged from five to 52.”
On the same day, nearly 50 students from the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, walked into the Kairali-Sree theatre campus and introduced the concept of a flash mob to a huge mass of movie buffs.
“It was the final day of the International Film Festival of Kerala. We used the venue to promote our cultural fest, Dhwani. The dance was not the highlight, it was the idea of the flash mob,” says Vinay Raveendran, coordinator of Dhwani.
CETians were also inspired by the Mumbai flash mob and even used the same song, ‘Rang De Basanti’ to kickstart the dance.
The numerous hits on Youtube videos of flash mobs inspired more Trivandrumites to take to public venues and surprise passers-by with a group performance. Technopark too joined the fun when more than 50 Infoscions suddenly started tapping their feet to ‘Beat It’ as part of their Christmas celebrations.
“We were singing Christmas carols, and the flash mob began soon after, surprising everyone who was gathered there,” says Swathi G. Nair who was part of the flash mob.
Latest to join the fad are the girls from the LBS Institute of Technology for Women. They danced at the Saphalyam shopping complex. Even as many an eager newbie rushes to join the fad, few seem to search for a reason beyond the one that it gives a rush of adrenaline. But young ones speak about the flash mob culture with the same spirit that heightens their thirst for anything new and exciting.
The Kolaveri fun is over, now it’s flash mob time.
