New Year Treat at Panambur: Mangalore Gets its First Flash Mob

Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Nerwork - Mangalore

Mangalore, Jan 11: It was a usual day at Panambur beach, with perhaps more crowd than usual, being a New Year Sunday. Water sports, camel rides, play areas and eateries brimmed with scores of people, the little ones got creative with the sand, and some others simply sat around watching the beauty of the Arabian sea.

And then, all of a sudden they turned, stopped in their tracks, and rushed to where music had started blaring. Two young girls, much to the surprise of the bystanders, began dancing to an English number, and Mangalore got its first flash mob.

Flash mob is a concept wherein a sizeable group of people of different age groups suddenly break out into a dance at a public place, for no reason other than entertainment. It is a trend that began in Manhattan in the US back in 2003, but has become quite a rage in India of late. The flash mob in CST Station in Mumbai on November 27, 2011 captured the imagination of the country, and it was followed by several flash mobs in other major cities.

Mangalore, too, couldn't be far behind, and New Year's Day saw the first successful flash mob at Panambur beach, perhaps the most fitting location to reach out to Mangaloreans from all walks of life.

What is amazing about this flash mob is that it was done all in a matter of just four-five days. It was Kevin Vas, a fourth-year student of architecture, who came up with the idea while on his Christmas vacation, and went on to direct and produce it along with his sister Joanna Vas, who is doing her PUC.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Kevin said, "We thought about it five days before New Year. Most people we roped in for the dance did not know about flash mob, but once we showed them videos, they were really excited and wanted to do it."

The word spread like wild fire, without the help of any publicity, and within two days, Kevin and Joanna had 30 people signing up. Most of them were PU college students, and a couple of them school kids.

It was then over to the choreographers, Anurag Bangera and Nischal Arya. To add a local flavour, the team decided to choose a peppy Kannada song, and zeroed in on 'Pankaja' from the movie 'Hudugaru'. The dance, however, began with the English number Party Rock Anthem of LMFAO, and surprisingly, unlike most other flash mobs in the rest of the country, no Hindi song was chosen.

In just four days, the entire group of dancers, of whom none were professionals though some had learnt dance, were trained, and the result on New Year's Day was all to see.

As Kevin put it, the most difficult part of organising a flash mob is to get the venue. In New Delhi the first flash mob was stopped by the police as the organisers failed to get permission, and only in the next attempt did it succeed. Kevin and Joanna sought permission from the Panambur beach authorities, who were only too willing to give the green signal.

And the flash mob rolled on. Once the two girls began dancing to the Party Rock number, one by one the other group members joined in, and in no time a whole bunch of youngsters of all age groups was dancing away to glory, in sync with the music and rhythm. The crowd cheered them on, clapping and shaking a leg wherever they stood and even joining in on the spot, many of them producing cameras and mobile phones to capture the eventful moment.

But even as the tempo increased and more people gathered, a jeep belonging to the beach authorities appeared from nowhere. It parked itself right in front of the flash mob, and stopped the dancers and dispersed them with a warning. But just when the crowd, disappointed and perhaps excpecting such an intervention, began to move away, out blared 'Binku....' Much to the astonishment of the people, the lifeguards and Yathish Baikampady of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project (who had stopped the dance) themselves joined in with the dancers! 

This twist not only delighted the crowd, but made it really different and set it apart from most other usual flash mobs. Kevin, who came up with this twist, said that Yathish Baikampady sportingly agreed to be part of the act, even though he was told about it only at the last minute. There was no practice, yet it worked wonderfully. But yes, the 'lifeguards' were part of the dance group.

But that's not the end of it. The video, posted in YouTube soon after, became an instant hit, registering more than 18,000 views in just three days. As of now, the video has been viewed almost 27,000 times, and has been repeatedly shared in social networking sites like Facebook, with viewers from India as well as abroad appreciating the effort.

Asked if the team did not fear being stopped by anybody mid way, Kevin said that the crowd was very good and sportive right through, and not just enjoyed the flash mob, but cheered them on with whistles. "Moreover, we had lifeguards on duty to prevent any trouble, but everything went on smoothly."

"I would like to thank Panambur beach authorities, because getting venue is the most important part of all," said Kevin, who, boosted by the reponse at Panambur, plans to organise more such flash mobs in the future.

He also had words of gratutide for Lourdes Central School, which provided a place for the team to practice the dance and plan it all.

For the Panambur crowd, it was a New Year treat they would cherish, after all, it was a moment when the city joined the rest of the world in having its own flash mob. Truly, Mangalore rocks!

Watch Video