'Kolaveri Di' takes Mumbai

College students perform at the CST station in Mumbai. Around 200 college students took passengers at Mumbai's busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station by surprise when they broke into a dance to the tune of title track from Bollywood hit Rang De Basanti on Sunday, a day after the city observed third anniversary of 26/11 terror attacks. While most of the people would dread at the thought of breaking into a dance in public, a 23-year-old girl in Mumbai just started dancing in the middle of CST and was soon joined by a group of 200 others dancing with her. The popular song from the Aamir Khan movie was played at the station which prompted the girl to start dancing to its beats. Bystanders were completely taken by surprise, but they thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The video of flash mob dance has now become a rage online. Flash mob, a global phenomenon Though relatively new in India, a flash mob is a well-defined phenomenon internationally as a group of people suddenly assemble at a public place, perform an action or a dance routine for a brief period and then disperse as quickly as if nothing has happened. The organiser of the flash mob, Shonan Kothari, said, "It was a flash mob. It was really, really, really fun. We did it to spread some happiness in the city." "It is a global art movement. It is a form of collective art where people come together and do something nice. It is a stress buster," Kothari added. Flash mob, a marketing gimmick Recently a telephony company experimented with its signature tune when it organised a flash mob in an Ahmedabad mall much to the delight of the shoppers. Slowly but surely young India is coming to embrace the power of flash mobs as a small attempt was made with Jai Ho at a Hyderabad mall. CST flash mob 'to spread some cheer' Though marketing companies have been looking at the opportunity to harness flash mobs for promotion, proponents like Kothari say the motive behind such mobs was just to spread some cheer and humour in the stressed out times we live in. Though it might look impromptu, but the jig was choreographed and practised for weeks. Even if permissions were sought from the relevant authorities, everything was kept under wraps as it was at CST, the site of the latest flash mob. "It (CST) is a historic building, very beautiful. It has a lot of footfall. People from all religions, all sections of society throng that place," Kothari said.