The Bobblehead Effect

I wish I could capture this phenomenon live for you, because I feel like I just won’t do the Bobblehead Effect justice by describing it in words. Alas, I will do my best to convey to you this strange and slightly addictive phenomenon.

I first came to notice this peculiar occurrence during my first few encounters with local Bangalore citizens, or Bangalorians as I have come to call them. At first, I thought they were just happy to see me, or maybe happy to agree with me. But then I began to notice it in every encounter I had and I came to realize that everyone is plagued by this habit.

Allow me to describe this condition: it seems that whenever some greeting, agreement, or parting word is reached in a conversation, people in India compulsively feel an urge to shake their head back and forth, much like a bobblehead. The effect is more pronounced in some than others, to the point where initially I was worried either that A) the person who I was talking to was about to have their head fall off or B) they were entering into violent spasms. I have no idea as to the origins of this habit, but it seems to be common universally across men, women, and children, both young and old; no one seems to be spared by this condition.

I originally mistook this habit as an indication that people were just so happy to see me, with their smiles so wide, that their head just couldn’t keep still and they had to flail it around similar to how a dog wags its tail. However, when people would do the same thing with their heads when I left the conversation as when I entered it, I knew it couldn’t be the case. I was also taken aback in conversations when I would ask a question, and people would respond with “Yes”, but they would shake their head around in a “No” fashion. Sometimes, I would have to ask the question again because I was getting mixed signals. After they repeated their answer a second time, still doing their bobblehead thing, I think they must have thought I was deaf, while I thought they were crazy. Either way, my first few conversations with people were a little rough.

Eventually, I began to realize that this is just a habit of conversation. What’s more, I began to join in the habit as well. Now, when I Skype my parents with my newly acquired bobblehead skill, they give me the same look I must have given everyone else. I know for them it will only take time until they too join in the habit. After all, when in India, do as the Indians do.