Picture Rajasthan, a state in north western India which to a large extend consists of desert. It’s in the middle of the day and it’s hot, very hot. My throat is as dry as the desert itself and I really need something to drink. I spot a tiny store, nothing but a hole in the wall really, and approach it. Among sweets and fruit, the store offers bottles with the word Bisleri on it. “Heaven sent” I think. “It’s water!”.
A woman sits outside the store. I turn my dry mouth into a smile, and greet her with a “namaste”, the local way of saying hello. She shakes her head, and I think for myself that refusing to say hello to me is not very polite. “Could I please have bottle of water?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
Maybe she doesn’t understand English? I try to simplify my question. “Water? Bisleri? Please?”, I say, pointing at the bottles.
The woman continues to shake her head.
I suddenly remember the word for water in Hindi, and cry out “PANI PLEASE”. I am very thirsty now and is becoming desperate. Why does she refuse to sell water to me? I can see numbers of bottles behind her.
The woman shakes her head.
Then, I realise it. She is not shaking her head. She is BOBBLING it. The peculiar way of swinging the head to from side to side, sort of in the shape of a tilted 8, that people do all over India. The multi functional way of communicating. A bobble could mean anything and nothing, and is used all the time. “Pani”, I say, and carefully try to perform a bobble.
The woman’s face cracks into a big smile and she starts to bobble her head so forcefully I’m afraid it will fall off. “WATER!!!” she yells, and a small boy appears from nowhere and hands her a bottle. We exchange the drink and some money, and I finally get to cure my thirst.
By adjusting my way of communicating to the local culture, I made the seller more eager on communicating with me. My message was clear: I was in a store that sold water, I pointed at the item I wanted to buy, and I asked for it in the local language. I guess that what was missing for my communication to be effective was some devotion and politeness.
This is what I look like when I'm not thirsty
And this is what the Indian head bobble looks like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4AM8d90Lus&feature=related
Hi Anna,
ReplyDeleteWow did you take that photo with the bottle of water you bought?
I learnt a new word from your post! Pani means water! It was very interesting to read that when they bobble their heads it means 'no problem' or 'okay'. You sounded frustrated when you were asking her for a bottle of water but all she did was to continue bobbling. It was clearly a non-verbal miscommunication due to cultural differences, but you managed to get what you want.
Thanks for sharing because I like to read about travel stories and learn from them!
Haha !
ReplyDeleteI found your post very funny.
It was very easy for me to imagine how the situation would have looked.
The classic 'Indian Head Bobble' has been known to mean anything and everything. In your situation, I think that she was merely acknowledging your order and waiting for you to request some more items. When you gave the return bobble, I think she understood that the water was all that you wanted.
Thanks for sharing an interesting experience.
Ailin: I guess I used the one hand I didn't hold the bottle in... And also, I AM wearing clothes in the picture, even if you couldn't tell at the first glance. And yeah, non-verbal miscommunication it was, and it couldn't be solved with clear verbal communication. That's something to think about.
ReplyDeleteRam: I thought you would! Maybe your interpretation was the case, or maybe she didn't wanted to sell anything to tourists but when she saw how amazingly well-adopted I was, she thought "WELCOME TO INDIA DIDI".
Excellent description of the intercultural encounter, Anna. You capture the essence of the "head bobble" perfectly. I was glad to see that Ram concurred. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehahahaha Anna, I understand your frustration really really well.
ReplyDeleteLast year I went to India in order to participate in a science conference.
My group was presenting about chaos theory.
One of the judges listening to our group is an Indian woman.
She did that BOBBLING again and again while we're delivering our ideas.
At that moment I thought OMG we're failing.
It turned out to be the opposite; that same woman actually nominated our team for the final round.
Only then I asked my Indian groupmate why she was shaking her head during our presentation.
That's when I knew the truth. LOL
Like this a lot,
Thanks,
Tong