Sign Language

I’m loosening my neck muscles here. A fun part of a culture new to me is learning the communication tricks. I grew up with the head nod and shake: up/down = yes, side-to-side = no. Indians use a different one for “yes”: it’s more of a roll from side-to-side, which I have been easily confusing with the side-to-side “no.” This has been particularly amusing in my face-to-face brainstorming sessions with Deepak. I draw a diagram on the whiteboard expounding some ‘grand’ scheme and then look at him for validation to see a side-to-side nod. Was that a yes or a no? fun... (btw, seems it usually is a no, and Deepak then draws a grander scheme :^) )

As for more sign language, we get it at church. Apparently one or more of the members in the congregation is hearing impaired and a signer interprets the meeting. This means Robin and I get visual aids to help understand their English accents. Talk about a multi-lingual experience, we were sitting in the sacrament meeting listening to a sister speak in her native tongue, Kannada (I think, the language of Karnataka, the state in which Bangalore resides). Her talk on prayer was signed and also translated on the fly to English. At times she would refer to the scriptures, at which point I would open my own French copy (the only one I brought) and follow along...

There is a lot to learn about languages here. So far I've gathered that most Indians speak at least three languages: their native tongue, which is usually the language of the state they live in; Hindi, which is the most prevalent native tongue in India; and English. Even though everyone speaks English, Robin and I have found it difficult to communicate. Our accents are thick for them to understand, and vice-versa and we choose different words for our sentences.

Deepak (with whom I work at Intel) has attempted to teach me some Hindi. I'm a difficult pupil so far. "Hum Chalengay" or so I phonetically write: "We will go"