The Indian headshake is one of the most common (and peculiar) gestures a traveler would come across on their journey India. The headshake is a combination of a nod and shake, and means precisely that - yes and no.
Observe the following discussion:
Traveli: Is this bus going to Cochin?
Indian: [responds with said headshake]
Meaning #1: The bus is going to Cochin
Meaning #2: The bus is going to Hampi / Rishikesh / Varanasi
Meaning #3: What is this guy on about?!
Initially, I was labouring under the misapprehension that the headshake was the only thing I knew to combine ‘yes’ and ‘no’ - the ‘maybe’. But having the wisdom of a month in this land, I note the errors of my ways, for the term ‘maybe’ has far more certainty as it guarantees one of two results - it may be or it may not be, whereas the headshake is quite different and promises no result whatsoever. It serves nothing more than a vague acknowledgement of the question (and its right to remain unanswered), and its only useful contribution is a lesson in coping with uncertainty.
And so I board the bus and let it take me to my destination - wherever that may be.
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18 January, 2008 at 4:03 pm
unnikuttan
that headshake interpretation is really fun.
18 January, 2008 at 6:00 pm
unnikuttan
indian busses are the best. better are only the trains in mumbai.
26 January, 2008 at 3:56 am
harinair
Last week I met an Estonian in Goa who said she heard an Indian woman say her ‘husband expired’. Left her in splits I understand. She also told me she couldn’t understand why Indians never say ‘I don’t know’. She feels we give an answer to all questions, whether we know the answer or not. Seemed to irritate her a lot.
27 January, 2008 at 4:00 pm
traveli
harinair - You mentioned two seemingly unrelated issues - the attitude to death as an act of uncontrolled fate (’expiration’) and the attitude to certainty, but the more I think about it, the more I see the link (whether intended or otherwise).
The monument on Ghandi’s cremation site simply states that he met death on 30 January 1948, without any reference to the roll of man in the action. This in sharp contrast to Lincoln, JFK, and Rabin where the act of murder is highlighted (As an Indian - ask yourself who shot Ghandi? then who shot JFK? why are you more likely to name the latter?).
I think the strong Hindu reliance on fate as an act uncontrolled and (to an extent) uninfluenced by man that allows Ghandi’s death to be viewed as being independent from the act of murder. This reliance on fate also allows for an acceptance of a far vaguer notion of certainty than that tolerated in the West, hence the yes/no headshake and the uncertain answers – which in turn may frustrate an Estonian or two.
29 January, 2008 at 2:11 pm
harinair
Entirely unintended.
Oh and another thing. As old India hands from the west know, Indians refer to Ghandi as Gandhi - because that is the correct pronunciation. Just a tip.