Sunday, June 06, 2004

do you wobble?

Not long after I moved to Delhi, I found a professor of languages, Dr. Anand, in a neighborhood near my “posh colony,” took home a satchel full of kindergarten primers and started memorizing Hindi words. But, like many an ambitious expatriate student, I started traveling and missing classes, and soon I stopped going altogether. A good adopted Punjabi, I learned to say “loin” and “royit” for “lion” and “riot,” to pronounce “donkey” as though it rhymes with “funky” and “monkey” as though it rhymes with “honky,” and to say “support” for “sport” and vice versa. I picked up a few cricket terms. But the only part of actual Hindi I mastered was the gestures. With these I can make myself understood with the laconic elegance of a rickshaw wallah.


Technique: Holding your right hand, thumb up, at a little above waist level, roll your wrist as though you are throwing a curve ball, turning your palm upward and curling four of your fingers one after another—pinky first—into a loose fist. At the end of the motion your index finger should be pointed interrogatively into the distance like a gunfighter’s pistol and you should have a Clint Eastwood squint of dyspeptic indifference on your face. As an alternative to the Gunfighter, vary your technique by finishing with your first two fingers and your thumb poised as though you are holding a tiny, invisible, perplexing ping pong ball and asking somebody to look at it. I call this the Beatnik.

Usage: The meaning of this motion is “Why not?” or, to be accurate, its cooler Indian substitute, “What’s there?” (Note: Novices may prefer the relative safety of the Beatnik technique, as with the Gunfighter you must take care not to make your Eastwood squint too combative or your finger pointing too emphatic, or to accompany the move with a forward hipthrust. It is easy to cross the line between “What’s there” and “Up yours.”)


Technique: Draw your open hand toward your chest, as though about to waft the vapor of some caustic chemical solution toward your nose, and then snap your wrist dismissively, fingers relaxed, as if you are trying to flick water off of them. Finish with your hand held, palm down, a span or so from your waist, in the pose of an alcoholic testing for delirium tremens. Tilt your head to the left and back, close your eyes partway and give your head a tiny, resigned shake.

Usage: The meaning of this gesture is “It goes without saying that he would behave so disgracefully,” or, more eloquently: “He is like that only.” When greater emphasis is required (i.e. to get the last gesture in an argument) start the motion with your hand parallel to your eyebrows and finish with your fingers a little higher, pointed in the direction of your interlocutor. Depending on the force of the flick, this variation (“You are like that only”) is akin to outstretched palm of the “Talk to the hand” or the ear-twirling forefinger of “Barking mad, isn’t he?”


Technique: Indians do not nod yes and shake no. Try either one and they’ll stare at you, baffled, and draw their own conclusions about what you mean. This may stem from some aversion to committing too completely to any one course of action, since all things are fated and one can never be sure what one will do, or because it’s never prudent to make promises, or because a betrayal of eagerness is the worst way to begin negotiating. In any case, the preferred gesture of assent—if that is indeed what it means—is the wobble. Facing forward, with your head in a relaxed position, tilt your head loosely from side to side, as though it is wobbling on the topmost vertebrae of your spine with the springy motion of one of those sad-looking dogs people fix to the dashboards of cars.

Usage: Though the gesture is most often translated to mean “yes,” as if it exists in direct correlation to the nod, the wobble is layered with nuance, like a Twilight Zone devil’s “as you wish,” and the motion ranges in meaning from “Right away, sir!” to “I feel your pain, but honestly can’t be bothered to help you.” The shades of meaning generally depend on the number of wobbles. For instance, five or six wobbles in either direction indicates servile humility (perhaps concealing a significant hike in price), while a detached half-wobble to the left, eyes partly closed (see “You are like that only”), suggests near total indifference. (Note: Be forewarned that the wobble is addictive. I recently caught myself trying to do it over the phone.)


Here’s how it works.

Autowallah: Zzzzzzzzzzz.
Customer: “Khali hai, Bhaisahib?” (Are you free, brother?)
Autowallah stirs, takes his feet off the useless meter, and rubs his eyes.
Autowallah: (Half wobble toward windscreen, eyes closed).
Customer: “Defence Colony janna hai?”
Autowallah: (Half wobble toward passenger seat).
Customer: “Kitna hoga?” (How much will it be?)
Autowallah: (Half wobble toward passenger seat). “Baitho.” (Sit down.)
Customer: “Kitna hoayga, Bhaisahib?” (How much will it be, brother?)
Autowallah: (Complete but nonchalant wobble). “As you like.”
Customer: “No, no, no. You say first. That way no argument.”
Autowallah: “As you like. No arguing.”
Customer: (What’s there?) “Kitna hoga, Bhaisahib?”
Autowallah: “Pifty rupees.”
Customer: “Pifty! Er… Fifty! Bis dengey” (I’ll give you twenty).
Autowallah: “Porty.”
Customer: (He is like that only).
Autowallah: (You are like that only!)
Customer: (Up yours!)
Autowallah: Unprintable (Hindi).
Customer: Unprintable (English).


Tork said...

Thanks for the info on the wobble, I'm American and I had a meeting with a very nice Indian gentleman and was a little confused by this gesture. Again thanks for clarification

mkIV said...

That's bound to cause confusion when talking to Germans. In Germany, the wobble indicates doubt or indecisiosn, as in "I don't know" or "Couldn't say". Generally, it's used as a response.

Person A: How tall do you think that building is? 50m?
Person B: (wobbles) Nah... I don't think it's that tall. More like fourty.

Anonymous said...

hi...i lived in india for 8 years... visited delhi a few times and loved your definitions...this was very funny and took me back to a great time in my life.

G Leonard said...

Very helpful! I'm an American professor who writes about gestures. Any others? GJ Leonard, Asian Pacific American Heritage.

Jason Overdorf said...

There are definitely a lot more gestures that strike me as different, but most of the differences are more subtle. For instance, using a raised eyebrow to indicate direction, rather than as a sardonic "Oh, really."

Gabriel said...

this would make a great youtube movie. I wish someone reads this and makes one. Or maybe it already exist, i don't know.

josh said...

I saw the "wobble" on a commercial for compact medical equipment. The first few times I saw the commercial I thought the old man getting an EKG was wobbling because of a degenerative condition. This last time I caught the doctor doing it briefly, in return it seemed, so I had to do a quick search.

Does the wobble have a name in India? Like nod or shake in the US.

hevangel said...

I couldn't quite get the first two gesture. It is nice to have some youtube video.

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turkey said...

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Cram Speaking said...

:) i can totally relate to these gestures. what to do, we indians are like that only!

you might have observed the rapid flicking of the thumb and index finger together, as though tossing a coin. you know what it refers to money. and people drawing rectangles in the air, referring to the movies.
someone ought to do a PHD on this!