Can flash mobs change mindsets about rape?
The NGO Being Social believes it can make a difference, one step at a time
On a muggy July afternoon, punctuated by an unrelenting drizzle, I found myself in a room full of strangers. Within 15 minutes of my arrival, there were six women and three men filling up the tiny space. One swept the floor, another adjusted the settings on a sound system, some practiced dance steps, yet others engaged in friendly ribbing.
But soon the atmosphere changed. Frivolous chatter gave way to serious focus on the task at hand: rehearsing for a series of flash mobs organised by Being Social — एक नई शुरुआत (A New Beginning), an NGO seeking to ‘inspire and mobilise Indians’ for a variety of causes. The agenda this time: to raise awareness about sexual violence with the theme ‘No More Rape’.
Over the next hour and a half, I watched as the volunteers went over the order of songs and enthusiastically practiced their steps. It was their first rehearsal with a choreographer, so there was plenty to learn, many mistakes to be made, and many triumphs to be cheered.
“The funny thing is, none of us are dancers,” said Shashi Palni, a marketer who volunteers for Being Social on weekends, “We have never danced in public like this.”
While the volunteers may not be expert dancers, they are passionate about their purpose, all of them connected by a common cause. “Women in India are becoming increasingly insecure because of the number of rapes happening,” said Palni. “We want this flash mob to build awareness and to tell people that this is not an issue we can be silent about anymore.
“We always say “बेटी पढ़ाओ, बेटी बढ़ाओ” (educate your daughter, and she will rise), but why don’t we say “बेटा पढ़ाओ, उससे सम्मान सिखाओ” (educate your son and teach him respect)? We want women to know that if they are ever victims of any forms of sexual violence, then they should speak up. And, we want to build awareness among men so that they understand the importance of treating women with respect.”
But what do they hope that a flash mob will achieve over other types of awareness campaigns? The answer: it is hard to tune out of a flash mob, and it is important to communicate the message to people who fit the profiles of victims as well as perpetrators.
“We’re targeting malls, metro stations and parks because those are the public places where women are getting molested or harassed most often,” said Sambit Chatterjee, a recent graduate of Meerut University. “There will be some people in our audience who are perpetrators of such acts. So, the hope is that they will also see our flash mob and be forced to introspect about what they’ve done.”
BEING Social is planning to perform at five or six locations across Delhi, and each flash mob will consist of a 7-10-minute dance drama that will conclude with Hindi poetry written by Snigdha Banerjee, a second-year Media and Journalism major at Amity University and one of the primary coordinators of the initiative.
“We want the story to show women who are happy and jolly, and then something happens to them,” Banerjee said. “But instead of communicating that their lives are doomed, we want to show them rallying together and doing something about what happened to them.”
Gaurav Singh, the president of Being Social, has previously organised a flash mob about menstrual hygiene and said he was encouraged by the response he received then to use the medium for other causes.
“We chose rape as a theme because it is something you read about every day in the papers, especially in the last few years,” he said. “When I pitched the idea to the volunteers, they were extremely energised about it, and that’s when we decided to go ahead.”
“THE MAIN LINE OF PROTEST WHEN A RAPE HAPPENS IS TO HOLD A CANDLELIGHT VIGIL AT INDIA GATE. BUT WHAT WILL THAT ACHIEVE WHEN THE ATTACK HAS ALREADY HAPPENED? WE HAVE TO MOVE ONE STEP BEYOND.”
— GAURAV SINGH, PRESIDENT, BEING SOCIAL
Flash mobs have had some success in the sphere of marketing, and have recently gained in popularity as tools of social influence, but how far can they go, especially when it comes to effecting change for something as pervasive as sexual violence and a culture of misogyny?
Singh is optimistic. “The main line of protest when a rape happens is to hold a candlelight vigil at India Gate. But what will that achieve when the attack has already happened? We have to move one step beyond and try to prevent these attacks from happening in the first place, which will only come from changing the way we think.
“Even if five, seven or 15 people out of the 100 who watch our flash mob go home and introspect about what they’ve just seen — which I feel will happen — I will consider the flash mob to be a success,” he said. “We hope that the initiative will work as a call for action and not just an awareness campaign.”
