Somewhere between Home and Far Away

The “Head Wobble” is an art, a language, and a way of life. Not quite an up and down motion or a side to side shake of the head meaning “no” to the western world, not quite a nod meaning “yes” but a motion that is a marriage of the two filled with robust meaning. Imagine putting your face against a window and making a figure eight with your nose – this would be a novice “head wobble.” A slow, lazy, causal “head wobble” with no urgency. Start to “bob” and “wobble” more quickly – and the meaning changes entirely.
It can mean “Yes, I am listening politely,” “Yes, I agree,” “No, I don’t agree but I want you to finish so I can tell you why.” It can also mean “I really don’t agree or like you and you have made me quite angry, but I have to show you a tiny bit of respect.” From tables across the country – it’s happening over conversations of movies, accounts of the day, politics, and heartfelt confessions. You will find the “head wobble” in heated debates, excited conversations between teenagers, serious discussions between elders, classrooms of young children, and squabbles with rickshaw drivers.
The meaning can be broken down by the speed, frequency, and length of each “wobble.” It can be a question “Are you done?” It can in fact be a whole unspoken conversation, “Yes, bill please.” “Alright, one minute, sir.” “Dhanyavad, Thank you.” There can be many small “bobs” in rapid secession or one smooth, long “bob” followed by a “ha;” meaning quite generically “sure.” It can be causal, hostile, polite, urgent, or playful. Personalities can erupt from the frequency of its usage, the speed and pace of the “bobs”, and the context of the conversation. But nothing compares to the first time you see the “head bobble” and your brain works madly to decipher which meaning it holds today. Or even more satisfying, when you find your own head wobble to emphasize a point and its precise meaning is understood. It’s madding and magnificent that so much is wrapped in the context of a small rotation of the head.
There is beauty in the simplicity and complexity of its usage. Small children who cannot say their names have already mastered it. And here I am, at twenty-four, studying this language intensely, trying to uncover its multitude of meanings, and interlace myself with this community of “head wobblers.”
A novice for now, I’ll continue to “wobble” away trying to connect, understand, and be understood by anyone who will “wobble” back at me.