The famous Indian head nod or wiggle

gollum

¿what about the twist of the hand with the fingers pointing at the sky, like if they were applying a lightbulb at high speed??
It is also well spread all over the country.

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Banarasi at heart

Ha ha. Good observation. This is very common and correctly throughout India. Twist with face moving from right to left and down to up so that the face finally points North East right?

Iasis: In India, it is not the opposite. If someone nods, it is Yes. But a shake (wobble/wiggle??!!) may mean a yes too.

My contribution to the solution to the mystery (maybe a Grant too). I think the wobble is best suited for "I follow you thus far" or for "OK".

Penri

The head-wiggling thing is contagious!

I was in India for a week (for the first time) in March and it took me a month to shake off the subconcious habit.

I had some v. strange looks from colleagues upon my return as my visit to India was in secret and I couldn't begin to explain why I lost control of my neck muscles whenever they asked me a question.

It must be for a "Yes" or "Maybe" as I cannot (and I'm trying) to get an Indian colleague to respond to me with a direct "No". This is problematic - has anyone solved this cultural barrier in a work environment?

Nick-H

You know, we really ought to change the name of this thread!

It isn't weird at all! Hundreds of millions of people do it

...And we really, really should have a head-wiggle smilie on this site.

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Bigzero

Nick, nice avatar! i can see that you are completely indianised now

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Casey

I have a Canadian friend whose little brothers who were born in India (both under 10) have come back to Canada with a great head wiggles. I wonder how that will play out in school? "Do you need to go to the washroom?" Headwiggle... "Do you need to go?" Headwiggle...A phonecall to the parents from the frustrated teacher. In a Canadian school a teacher recently took away a boy's spoon because "we eat with a knife and fork". I forget where this poor kid was from, but it cause quite a stir because he was punished for eating the way he does at home. I can imagine the confusion the little head-wiggling Caucasions may cause!

Sama

this is a gross generalization about white girls and absolutely not true.....
....since I was just complimented the other day on my head wobble by a native Bangalorean......

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9hanover

An indian we met while out there was fascinated by the fact that I tend to move my hands around if talking - didn't reaslise this until he pointed it out. Why is it so unusual?

Nick-H

Perhaps he only moved his arounds about when talking on his mobile phone?

Very odd reaction....

itgirl

Hand motions are extremely dangerous.

The Indian gesture that means "eat" means "what the f&%k" in Italian.

This is courtesy of Russel Peters, a hilarious Indo-Canadian comedian.

Jasmin

Every place has it's own little ways. How about the way the French gesture with their hands with every word they say? Or the overexaguration of throwing hands skywards by the Italians. How about the English and how they can speak so well with a fag stuck in their month? I bet the Indians would find these commical in a way?

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dan37_123

yes INDIANS move their HEADS
yes ITALIANS move their HANDS, like crazy
yes GREEKS raise thier VOICE
yes AMERICANS use lots of PROFANITY
............. so on it goes, what is so big deal about it, its just cultural mannerisms.

Good luck
dan

Nick-H

It isn't so much about "comical" --- it is about actually understanding the gestures.

Hadji

I had no idea that our wiggles and w/bobbles were such a hot topic of conversation over here

Sorry for the confusion, but like most Indians I assume I was probably born with it (or at least picked it up quite young). Like Banarsi at heart says, it's just our way of saying, yes, I hear what you're saying, please continue

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H Nair

as a thoroughbred indian, having seen first hand the ridiculous helplessness of you firangs in our mystifying country, i would like to make a helpful suggestions for you poor wondering sods. its the equivalent of the texan 'is that right' or uh-huh. its not agreement its just a manifestation of the music and dance that flows in our veins.
for the guys who want to get it right, try this- imagine the point of your chin to be a pen, and draw imaginary lines on a paper from ear to ear.
better done on empty stomach, early in the morning after having paid due respect to the rising sun