Flash mobs trend catching up in city

Warangal: Imagine the vibrations of a colourful youth brigade in jeans and denims, out of nowhere, appear at a busy intersection and break into a dance. Yes, the awe-inspiring flash mobs culture is here and catching up the city youths fast. Bill Wasik, a senior editor of Harper’s Magazine, the creator of ‘Flash Mob’, never in his wildest dreams had imagined perhaps that one day his social experiment would become a global fad.

Since Manhattan in New York witnessed the first “Flash mob’, on June 17, 2003, the concept spread gradually to all the continents of the world especially enticing the youths. Cities like Warangal are no exception. The action begins and ends in a flash. Though the event lasts barely 10 to 15 minutes, it’s the most entertaining way to draw the public’s attention towards an event or a promotional programme.

Of late, the denizens of the city had a pleasant surprise seeing the flash mob performances by the students of various colleges. In these a dozen years of evolution of the flash mobbing, these events started to come up without prior announcement to catch up the people by surprise. Earlier, the organisers used to announce the news of flash mobs through chain letters via email and text messages well ahead of the event.

The other day, the students of Chaitanya Degree College caught the crowds at Sridevi Asian Mall Multiplex and the passers-by at the Petrol Bunk circle, near Public Gardens, by a pleasant surprise by swinging their arms and feet rhythmically to fast-paced numbers to promote their college’s fifth convocation ceremony to be held on Saturday. Though the performance lasted for a few minutes, the impact, however, lasted for long.

“It was awe-inspiring to see the youths hitting the roads and giving a breathtaking performance,” G Sriram Reddy, a BJP district leader, said. A few days ago, the Telangana Engineering Students Activity Centre organised a flash mob to promote their three-day Techno Summit at the Kakatiya University.