The Indian head bobble is truly one of the funniest, and sometimes frustrating, things we have encountered in this wonderful country. Picture someone wobbling there head side to side. Not a nod "yes" or "no", but moving ear to shoulder, ear to shoulder. You encounter this bobble everywhere, and it seems to mean everything. It can mean "I'm thinking", "yes", "no", "I don't know", "please", "okay", etc. Here are some examples of times when we've received a head bobble response.
In an Internet cafe:
Benny: "Do you have any computers available?"
Employee: Head bobble and pause. Then, "They are busy"
Benny: "Do you know when one might free?"
Employee: Head bobble
Negotiating the price of a rickshaw:
Alison: "150 rupees to the town center?"
Driver: Head bobble
Benny: "150?"
Driver: Head bobble, "200"
Alison: "how about 175"
Driver: Head bobble
In a restaurant:
Alison: (pointing to something on the menu -- the name of which we forgot) "What is this dish?"
Waiter: "It comes in a vessel."
Alison: "Can you tell me more?"
Waiter: "A vessel, like a pan, and it has mint and coconut and comes out steaming."
Alison: "Is it good?"
Waiter: Head bobble
Alison: "OK, I'll try that"
Last day in Varkala and the Train to Kochi
On our last day in Varkala we headed to the beach in the morning and spent most of the day there. It was a tiny bit cooler, probably in the low 90s and it was just the perfect day for the beach. Again, sorry to be telling you all in the Northeast and Midwest who are freezing your tukases off. For those of you who are wondering what the semi-hippy beach scene in Varkala looks like, here is a video of some westerners doing yoga on the beach at sunset:
The next day, we got up early and boarded the train to Kochi. It is a pretty short trip, about 4 hours. The trains in India are interesting, and somewhat confusing. There are so many different classes to choose from. There is first a/c, first non a/c, there are sleeper cars with a/c and non a/c, some with two bunks and some with three, there is second class, and probably other options that we don't even know of. When we got our seats the only option was sleeper non a/c. But some people had reserved sleeper seats and other tickets are unreserved. Ours were unreserved. Basically what that means is that you can take any free seat, but then you have to move if it belongs to someone and they board. After being forced out of our seats twice, and not finding another spot together we walked to the a/c section where we had to pay a supplemental fee, though at least that meant we wouldn't have to move seats again. The non a/c cars actually seem nicer because a nice breeze flows through the train and you can get a nice view out the window. In the a/c section the windows are tinted and the air is stale, so it costs three times as much, but really isn't as pleasant. Mind you, we might tell a different story were we to be here in March or April when it reaches to over well over 100 degrees.
On our train ride we met an interesting British man who spends four months of the year working in England and then 8 months living in India. He was telling us that you can buy property and build a house in the heavenly town of Varkala for around $20,000. And there are no property taxes and the house can be built to be self-sustainable--e.g., solar panels for electricity and hot water, a septic system that generates gas for cooking, etc. We are thinking of retiring early, say around age 30 and moving there....
Kochi
We are now in Kochi, a wonderful seaside port city with a fascinating history. It is made up of several islands and peninsulas. Over time, in addition to Indians, the Portuguese, Jews, Arabs, Syrians, Dutch, and others have settled in this city. Yesterday we visited the synagogue in Jew Town, which used to be a vibrant Jewish community of several thousand. There are only 7 Jewish families and 13 Jews left in the city. Jew Town is still the center of the spice trade in the city, and the neighborhood has lots of wonderful antique and crafts shops, and contemporary art galleries.
We are staying at the wonderful Kapithan Inn, which is homestay (sort of like a bed and breakfast, but without the breakfast). If any of you come here eventually, we would highly recommend it. Tomorrow morning we head to the backwaters with a couple of friends from Boston who are in India as well. The backwaters are a series of canals that connect small villages and farms, and we will be renting a boat for an overnight trip. Hopefully after the backwaters we will be posting more pictures.
after seeing it so many freaking times this past summer, i accidentally did a head bobble once we got back from india with an american friend who used to live there. he wondered why i was doing it in response to what he said and if i really knew what i was doing. apparently, there's a limited range of meaning to the head bobble, and clearly, i did not know what they were.
Posted by: Seth | February 17, 2007 at 02:36 PM