The Indian "Head-Wiggle"

I just found a nice aticle for people who are getting confused by the typical indian head-wiggle (which can mean yes or no)

maybe a must read for people who are going a 1st time to India

read more here: http://vsequeira.blogspot.com/2005/0...ad-wiggle.html

The link doesn't seem to work for me ...

Thanks anyhow. The head wiggle is very popular in Kerala. It usually meant yes.

i wish i'd read this before i went to india. while in a small town there, i asked a young boy, maybe 3 times, if he wanted something before i realised he had been replying, "yes" all along. now, 5 months after returning from india, i catch myself doing a very small wiggle when talking to close friends.

Before I went to India, I had an English friend in Thailand. He did not understand the head wiggle when he was in India and got very angry. He was sure that he was being lied to when someone would say yes to him but wiggle their head from side to side. He warned me not to trust anyone that did this, but the real meaning was quite obvious when I first saw it in person

I'm horrified to admit that I often don't know if my GF's "Hmmm" is a yes or a no!

(Communication is so important in a relationship )

But usually it is a accompanied by the slight, one-way shake of the head, which means "yes". The wiggle means a heap of other things...

Hi wocca, the link works fine here. I just love the indian wiggle from people when you ask things by people. better understand yes and no otherwise you can come in big trouble if depens what for kind of trouble

Health Warning

Apply all knowledge about the Indian Head Wiggle to the southern part of India.

I am originally from the East of India (Bengal).

If you want to signify “yes” in West Bengal, you nod your head to a side or you move your head up and down; to signify no, you move it in a horizontal motion from side to side.

I know people do the same in many other northern states of India.

Thanks, Terry. I just tried the link again but no joy. Could be just a China thing. The information being posted in this thread is enligthening enough as it is anyhow

It is this on I find confusing

Maybe there is some difference in the Bengali way of doing it, but Southerners do it too. (What we need in this thread is attached MPEGS! Might be a bit tough on Mike's server space, though...)

If I am understanding you correctly.

It is like starting to shake the head once but stopping half way! ie shaking the head, but to one side only. It confuses me when my music teacher in London does it, and it confuses me when my GF in Chennai does it

BTW, just read the article the OP points to. Very interesting. Paricularly the stuff about responding to a stare. I adopted this instinctively, and it seems to be very effective

No Nick, I did not make myself understood clearly. Bengalis and most people from North nod/shake their head exactly the same way that peo;ple in UK/US would to indicate yes/no. The nod to the side is not a shake, its just nodding the head to a side.