Scientist Charles Darwin had also studied the way of communication by shaking his head. Representational photo (Unsplash)
Nodding the head loudly when agreeing to something, or turning the head left-right to say no – this method of communication also acts as a bridge between people who know two different languages in our country. Head nod or head shake is a kind of language. Experts also call it head wobble, which is a special kind of science.
Shaking the head to convey something to another is not a new way, but it had started long ago. The first written document on this is found by scientist Charles Darwin, who wrote a paper named Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animal in the year 1872. It claimed that small human babies express their hunger or loneliness by shaking their heads shortly after birth. Whereas in animals, especially pigeons or similar birds, head movement helps them to walk and stay alert. According to the Library of Congress, if such a thing is applied to the birds that they cannot move their heads, then they will almost stop moving.
If we talk about ourselves, head shaking is kept under non-verbal communication, that is, that method of communication in which there are no words but the matter is completed. For example, to express displeasure or disagreement about something, many people move their head from right to left, then from left to right. That's enough. After this, there is no need to tell that we are not agreeing to such and such thing, or are denying it.
The art of nodding is not limited only to Indians, but in many other countries also this way of communication is very popular. Especially in Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, it has the same meaning as it has here. But after this the matter changes. If you start nodding your head while walking in Cyprus, it means that you are saying goodbye to someone. The meaning of head nodding in Bulgaria is completely opposite to ours. Here turning the head left and right means agreeing on something. The same pattern is also in Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt.
Pigeons turn their heads to see and to balance while walking. Symbol photo (Pixabay)
If you nod your head while talking in Israel, it is taken to mean that you are not interested in the conversation. This method is quite different from ours, where many of us get angry when interrupted and assume that the person in front is not liking the conversation.
This is the meaning of head-nod in different countries, but do you know that this method which comes under non-verbal communication comes in a special category. Actually there are 5 types of speaking without speaking. This includes facial expressions, gestures, paralinguistics (voice intonation), proxemics i.e. the need for space and eye gestures. The habit of shaking the head comes under two categories – body language and gestures.
This very comfortable habit for us often brings problems for foreign tourists. They can hardly understand what we are agreeing to, and what we are denying. About a decade ago an American sitcom called Outsourced came. In one of its episodes, the Asian style of head nodding was talked about. By the way, if we talk to the experts of sociology, they claim that since it is not considered good to talk to elders in a country like India, instead of doing so by speaking, non-verbal communication was resorted to. With this, we are saved from being direct rude and also keep our opinion.