The infinity nod

This is one of those months when we haven't travelled. As the BBC had said "nothing happened on this day". We have busy in office working on itineraries, revised itineraries, ammended itineraries, confirmed itineraries, confirmed itineraries that need ammendment, revised confirmed itineraries... you get the point. As a result, this is one of those months that we have not travelled in.

Not having travelled, we have nothing to say. Having nothing to say, we decided to shift focus to a question. The million-dollar question, whenever we have met first-time travellers to India, has been... "What does the shaking of the head mean ?" Further corollaries have been "Does it mean yes or no ? Can be done or cant be done ? Up or down ?"

And thus, on a nice Saturday afternoon, we release our own leaked cables on the headshake. There is no author to this post and the management of INDEBO is not aware of such a post being published.

Now to business. What is generally viewed as "the infinity nod" (so named because of the illusion of the head creating a pattern similar to the infinity symbol) to the untrained eye is actually a generic name given to a few types of nods. Look closer and you will see the nuances.

The vertical nod: We will start with the simple one. This means the same everywhere. Its a yes, yessir, haanji, I approve.... or come here.

The vigorous vertical nod: To quicken things. It basically means "Yes, now moving on..."

The horizontal shake: You would give me a vigorous vertical nod if I explained the meaning to you.

The vigorous horizontal shake: "What you are saying is irritatingly and obviously wrong. I know that. The world knows that. My neighbour's dog knows that. The cow walking down the street knows that." It is generally accentuated by a cringing of the eyebrows or some hand movements.

The infinity nod: This might seem to be as difficult as infinity itself. But in essence, we are simply putting ticks on every point you mention. "Pack your bags." tick. "Make sure you have your passport." tick. "Keep your head straight". tick.

Of course you need a hands-on tutorial in the natural environment. But for that, you know where to be