The Indian Head-bob

Body language and gestures are something one seldom thinks about, but nonetheless are critical to how people communicate. Nowhere is this more obvious than the in the head gestures that we use to signify ‘yes’ and ‘no’; nodding and shaking of the head, respectively. In their typical fashion, the Indians have done us one better, adding to their repertoire, the head-bob, and unleashing on foreigners a torrent of confusion.

The Indian head-bob is executed by drawing a horizontal figure eight (an infinity symbol) with one’s chin. The Indian head-bob can mean yes, no, I have no clue what you are talking about or any gradation in between.

I have been head-bobbed at number of times, evidently with varying meanings as derived from the different outcomes arising from the experiences:

• Head-bob 1 / the guesthouse staff: I was head-bobbed at by the guesthouse staff in response to my question about whether the wi-fi router could be fixed. A week later I’ve seen no attempt to fix it so apparently the meaning was “I don’t understand you and even if I did I’m not going to do it.”
• Head-bob 2 / the rickshaw driver: I received a head-bob from the rickshaw driver on Sunday when I asked for confirmation that he knew the way to my destination. A little after getting underway he pulled up next to another rick and asked for directions. Evidently the bob meant “more or less, plus I can always ask for directions while we in route.”
• Head-bob 3 / my colleague: One of my colleagues employed the head-bob on Monday when I told him my approach to the project that I am working on. At the end of the day today he told me that the approach wasn’t at all what he was looking for. In this case, the head-bob meant, “Not really, but why don’t you figure it out.”

Next to byzantine red tape, corruption, political deadlock, and inadequate infrastructure the insidious head-bob must rank up there as a serious impediment to India’s contined development and global integration.