Sharper Than Words...

Something that amazes me most about our own human race, is the fact that we use gestures or in simple terms "body language" when communicating with each other in our daily life. To most of us its something habitual and an unavoidable form of act. However, to the rest of us its our individual "style" or to teenagers it's often known as a "cool" act to display a particular body language while communicating. Gestures are usually categorized as a form of non-verbal communication. It can be combined with verbal communication or simply can be done just like that without words being said. Different people have different perceptions towards this term as it carries a variety of meaning like motion of body, movement of body and etc..

In my humble opinion, gestures have everything to do with emotions, feelings as well as expressions. It is also obvious that gestures play its important role depending on a situation that's occuring at that particular period of time. In most cases, it has played a very important role culturally. For example, ample of gestures are used in the classical indian dance which is more closely known as the Bharatanatyam dance which originates from the southern state of India, Tamil Nadu. In this dance, the performer uses his/her eyes to coordinate with the beat of the song while exhibiting an extraordinary movement with his/her hands and feet. These physical movements are simply known as gestures! It's fascinating how spiritualized performances relates closely to gestures! Not only that, even the Modern Jive and Salsa rhythms together with flexibillity and gestures. In short, i would like to say that gestures has everything to do with every form of dance, as long you are moving and shaking!

Gestures can affect us in many different ways. It is very momentous to show the correct gesture at an appropriate timing. This is will help to prevent any misconceptions. Besides that, it is also significant to know about the acceptance of gestures in different societies in the world. Some might display an act of obscene and some might exhibit an act of peace and harmony. One should be very well-versed before using them. According to some research done, smiling is a universally accepted gesture. Understood and known by every society and culture in the world but there are cultures that have logic reasons for smiling. For example, the Japanese might smile when they are dealing with a great depth of confusion or anger. In Asia, Asians will most probably smile when they are embarassed due to shyness. In the United States, smiling might not be accepted by everyone. It might not be known as a tool of friendliness but it is often reserved for close friends and family. Therefore, it is important to see situations and learn about gestures used by people around the world. It can be really funny how gestures are seen from different angles by different people.

An important character that reminds me deeply about gestures is the mime. What are mimes? Basically mimes are people are who use mime in the field of performing arts, which involves acting out a story line through body movements and motions without speech. In the streets of France, mimes are very easily found doing performances in order to gain a few pennies a day.

To sum up, I would like to say gestures are widely used in the everyday situation. We use them every second when expressing a thought or idea, when dancing, when singing, when crying or even when eating and sleeping. They can be of great use especially when it has to do with expressing a deep thought. Use it wisely and it might be more powerful than what words can even mean!

Toodles!.

Compiled by Jasneeta Kaur Bhullar =)