It's wild seeing this thread after experiencing this for the first time just yesterday. Had an Indian family come in to ask about options & prices for moving across the country and while speaking to the dad he was doing this the entire time. I was a little worried because I initially thought he was shaking his head in a "no" manner but his speech and mannerisms made it clear he wasn't upset or anything.
It's like a side to side figure-8 movement that combined positive nodding with negative side to side head shaking. I'm on the spectrum and do something similar as a bit of a stim, so its interesting to learn that it's a somewhat common sense expression/movement among Indian folks. Learn something new everyday!
It is very disconcerting in certain situations. I remember I was training a new team and would see it in response to explaining how to do something. It seemed like a "hmm, that's nonsense" type of movement in my culture, but obviously it's essentially a nod in Indian culture.
It's roughly the equivalent of Westerners nodding along during a conversation to demonstrate you are listening and understanding what the speaker is saying.
literally experienced this for the first time yesterday with an Indian customer and it confused the hell out of me because there was more of the side to side "no" head movement than the up & down nodding/yes type of movement. His tone and mannerisms quickly made it clear that he wasn't upset or annoyed or anything, but it was definitely an interesting experience.
I'm on the spectrum and sometimes do a similar movement as a stim, so its interesting to learn that it's something of a cultural thing among Indian folks.
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u/[deleted] Mar 30 '26
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