Plankly, my dear, they don't give a damn!

It's weird. It's mad. But it is the latest craze catching up the world over due to its sheer madness. Planking, the act of lying face down, expressionless, motionless, on, across, over or inside an object — the stranger the better — with arms to the sides of the body, in unusual public spaces and photographing the stunt, is the next big buzzword on the Internet.

Plankters are observing Wednesday as first annual planking day across the globe.

For those willing to take chances, the possibilities are endless: the office plank, departmental store plank, group plank and doubles plank.

To simplify it, let's think posing in 'reverse shavasana' at the strangest of places: a busy traffic median, on top of the Public Utility Building, on a lamppost or trying to balance the body on the tip of the Vidhana Soudha dome. Now post the pictures as testimony to your crazy streak online. And voila, you have joined the increasing-by-the-minute plankers across the world.

The latest 'internet fad', as it's called, originated in Australia and went on to spread rapidly in Europe, America and Japan. Though yet to catch up in India, it sure will begin with cosmopolitan cities like Bangalore and Mumbai taking the lead.

In the latest, a UK-based tabloid on Tuesday reported about an Australian who photographed himself planking in the altogether. Naked planker Simon Carville has owned up to the act, while UK Facebook users are being warned of the risks of the craze.

Benoy Wilson, a Bangalore-based ad professional, has been following the trend online.

"This doesn't look like any passing fad as it is attracting people of all ages in cities like New York and Brisbane who say they are just 'plain bored'. But in trying to out-plank the others, people shouldn't try things that are too dangerous so as to avoid police spoiling their fun," said Wilson.

The outlandish phenomena first hit the headlines on May 13, 2011, when a 20-year-old man from Gladstone in Central Queensland planked on a police vehicle. The cops failed to see the funny side and charged him with being found on police establishment without lawful excuse.

"It was after this incident that people took notice of the emerging trend. It spread like wildfire through the numerous dedicated Facebook communities and the social network took care of the 'absurd sport' finding takers in other countries as well," said Wilson.

Be safe, be creative
Some call it the stupid internet sensation, but others argue calling it creativity, and the fact that it's huge on Facebook does say something about its popularity.

The Planking Australia page on Facebook has more than 1,56,067 supporters and includes hundreds of photographs of plankters lying on statues, fire hydrants, toll-ticket booths and even in departmental store freezers!
Another popular Planking community on Facebook has pictured an entire IT class planking criss-cross on any base available.

The not-so-fun side
On May 15, 2011, Acton Beale, 20, plunged to his death after planking on a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane. His friends accused Paul Carran, a New Zealander living in Sydney who claims to have invented planking in 2008, for the death. This incident prompted Australian prime minister Julia Gillard issue a warning, "Focus has to be on keeping yourself safe first."

A Brisbane Times blogger makes himself heard loud and clear when he says: "Give planking the credit it deserves — Ignore it. The truth is that the popularity of planking has soared in the past few months, and so have the stakes.