I know it’s been a while since I did an update and as I sit in this hotel room counting down my last days in Bombay – it occurred to me that there was one phenomenon which I had promised myself to do a post about and I had neglected to do so.

One really cannot consider themselves schooled in the way of “Indian” until you have been at least exposed to it even if you don;t  fully understand it.

I am Jamaican so I pride myself on knowing a little bit about non verbal communication… Jamaicans can find one hundred ways to tell you something without ever opening their mouths. We utilize our eyes a lot by rolling them… cutting them (does not involve actual cutting just a Jamaican term for a feisty look), giving the up down and once over… A popular one is called kissing your teeth… thats when you make a sucking noise through your teeth generally to express disgust or frustration. Hands come into play a lot – we are a passionate people and when we speak our entire bodies have to be involved.

This post however is not about Jamaicans and their myriad ways of communicating but about one Jamaican trying to decipher the Indian enigma that is commonly  called the  “Bobble Head”.

It can mean Yes… but it can also be an agreement to a No… it can mean I Understand… Maybe… I am fine… Perhaps…

The applications are numerous and can only be understood within each particular context. I have seen five minute conversations take place with nothing but head bobbling being exchanged – the application itself is really is a kind of art form.

I think though that this post is useless without a video so today I present to you “Proper Usage of the Head Bobble” 😀

One Love, One Heart, One People…

http://youtu.be/ACXOvZrgBi4