MUMBAI, OCTOBER 4 India got its first experience of the strange human swarming called the flash mob, just two months after the social fad popped up in New York.

A group of about 60-odd people descended on the glitzy CrossRoads Mall at Haji Ali in downtown Mumbai today evening and engaged themselves in a series of pointless but amusing acts as stupefied security guards and shoppers watched. Then, they dispersed as suddenly as they had arrived. It all happened in two minutes.

All the rage in the US and Europe, flash mobs are an inexplicable social phenomenon that involves its organisers bringing together — via mass e-mailing — large crowds that gather in public places. The flash mobbers act out a series of short, swift actions, usually according to a written script, and then disperse as soon as they materialise.

The Mumbai flash mob, organised by Rohit Tikmany, 25, too stuck to the same fundamentals. The flash mobbers, most of them in their mid-20s, crowded around the mall’s entrance, cellphones to their ear, shouting out instructions such as: Infosys becho ek hazaar, and SBI gheun tak don she.

Even as onlookers, shoppers, and even the mall’s security guards tried to comprehend this pre-online trading stock-market skit, the flash mobbers broke into a wild dance accompanied by loud hooting.

Thirty seconds or so into the dance — an amalgam of bhangra, disco, and garba — they all froze in various positions for another half a minute.

The end came as soon as the flash mobbers flicked opened their bright umbrellas and melted into the crowd their antics had attracted.

While a police van came moments after the mobbers dispersed, the security guards at CrossRoads were absolutely baffled. After the show onlookers were seen trying to catch hold of dispersing flash mobbers in an effort to question them.

Shoppers present at the mall and at the McDonald’s outlet nearby watched in amused disbelief.

‘‘It was a bigger success than we expected. We plan to hold more of these in the coming days. In fact, the next one’s going to be on next Saturday,’’ said Tikmany after the event.