Today is a holiday called Basant Panchami, apparently dedicated to the goddess of knowledge and education. Not a lot of people took the day off (at my company, it is one of ten days we can choose to take off out of fourteen religious and national holidays), but people seemed to leave early. We decided to leave early as well (read: on time), making the trip home from work for the first time in an autorickshaw (for $2) and in daylight. Saw the usual cows in the usual spot (amongst the sometimes-burning garbage on the side of an intersection) and am surprised how healthy they look. Will try to get a photo of the cows.
The donkeys, cows, dogs, etc, picking at the corner trash (on my way to work.)
I think some animals have herders that lead them around town. On more than one occasion, I’ve seen a few dozen sheep on the same corner. And sometimes I see the cows all headed down the adjacent road, as if going to the next spot.
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day, which they do celebrate here. I got an email in the afternoon saying I had a “courier” waiting for me at the front desk at work. To my utter surprise, it turned out to be a package of chocolates from my dad! Every year it seems, no matter what country I’m living in, and whether or not I have a significant other, I still get chocolates from my dad on February 14th (though I really thought I wouldn’t be getting any this year.) We take chocolate very seriously in our family.
Proof My Dad Rocks
Anyway, the head bobble. I first heard about the Indian head bobble a few months ago from my co-traveler in Russia. She wasn’t kidding! It is like a nod, but it looks more like a “no” than a “yes”, but not even quite that. It looks more like, I hate to say it, a bobble head. The extent of the bobble varies from person to person. Sometimes, it is a slight head side-to-side as if on a Jack-in-the-Box spring. Sometimes it looks like they are shaking their head no. Or maybe doing neck-loosening exercises. I thought the lead role in the cute Indian movie “Well Done, Abba” had some kind of tic, then I realized he was just bobbling his head. At work, the director of development is a bobble-o-rama, but some people hardly do it at all. It is not restricted by gender, both men and women do it equally. If you see something that looks like a vague no, then it is probably just a bobble since Indians rarely shake their head no, or even say no. A bobble means “I see” or “I’m following you” and is just a gesture to show they are listening and taking in what you are saying. Sort of like when we do an occasional slight nod.
Sometimes, I find myself practicing the bobble in private, but when I’m with a real Indian, I end up just more firmly shaking my head as if to make up for the loose-necked bobble.
Many people warned me about “the staring” before I got here. So much so that I expected every head to turn as I walked down the street. It was not as bad as all that. (My preparing for the absolute worst made a lot of things seem “not so bad” when I actually got here.) However, the people that do stare do so unapologetically, exhibiting entire dramatic 180-degree head turns to see the foreign woman go by. Though I suspect that it is like in Japan where everyone notices me and, if they can do so discreetly, take a peek (as I did every time I noticed a non-Japanese person there.) This theory was pretty much proven on a recent morning when I walked into the restaurant where I have my breakfast buffet most mornings. I actually looked up and around at all the tables of the restaurant to see if Chris (who had arrived the previous day) was in the room. Every single person at every table was looking back up at me. Ha! Caught you!
I only really mind the staring because it makes me paranoid, thinking that I’m in a place I shouldn’t be – like a construction zone – or alternately, that I know the person looking and should be saying hello. The only other time I mind is when I’m wearing sweats or having a Bad Hair Day or otherwise want to be invisible.