Monday, March 21, 2011

Cultural programming

I woke up for no good reason last night and started pondering my reaction to something: the Indian head "bobble" or "wagging." Whatever you call it, it does NOT mean what I expect it to mean. In my life as an American, I have learned to interpret a sideways shifting of the head to imply ambiguousness, a kind of lukewarm reaction. For example, I ask a friend, "How was the movie?" My friend answers with a nonverbal tilting side to side of the head (maybe accompanied by a hand also wavering back and forth). This equals a "so-so" response.
However, the same movement in India means YES. In a restaurant, I will order a meal and the waiter will tilt his head back and forth. My immediate reaction is :  oh, I guess that's not a very good choice if the waiter is lukewarm about it. Then I remember, he is just "nodding" Indian style! No disapproval or ambiguity implied!!
I have now been in India for one month. What is fascinating is that although my head KNOWS people are saying YES when they move their heads that way, my gut is still caught up in a habitual response. I suppose that is OK, because I'd have to reprogram myself on my return to the US otherwise and start having novel communication problems back home.

No comments:

Post a Comment