“I always knew that body language is truly language. In my culture -Latin American/Caribbean culture from Puerto Rico- we tend to point right or left, or sometimes (though less so) up or down by pouting our lips, and maybe nudging our heads a bit in the direction that wants to be communicated. But that’s probably not too different from other cultures that maybe use some movement head and eyes for that purpose. However my real story -is a story of a major problem that was avoided thanks to the helpful pointers most of us got from friendly folks prior to the Hyderabad meeting. The notion of a side to side head tilt or shake to mean yes, or good, or maybe, or ok, or I understand, depending on the context, was completely and utterly unknown and foreign to me and my experience (how ignorant I was!). A completely different language. Thanks to the helpful tips given before landing I was fully briefed of the so called “head bobble” or “head wobble” as a common gesture found in some South Asian cultures, and most notably in India. Major crisis was averted.”
