Yesterday I happened to see a small part of a documentary on the TV (stands for Television for those of you who don't know what that is and the only good thing about it is there's no buffering) that showed a few Forest ranger officers in the Indian Government trying to buy elderly elephants that would be used for tourist rides from the villages that own them. One thing that struck me was how the rangers negotiated on the final price of the elephant. The head villageman asked for Rs. 50000 which the ranger struck down immediately saying there's no way they could afford that. The next scene showed them negotiating in an "ancient way of negotiation" that involved them grasping each other's right hand while both the hands were covered with a piece of cloth. Apparently, the buyer and seller then negotiated on a suitable pricing by applying pressure on each other's hand when they found the price to be mutually acceptable or something like that. I am very curious on how this negotiation takes place with just the hand pressure without talking a word (I think). Would be great if anyone with knowledge about this method of bargaining commented with an explanation below. The documentary ends with the new mahout trying to gain the elephant's trust while the previous mahout in the village loses his job. Anyway, if you're interested in more modern techniques and strategies for negotiating not just your salary you should definitely check out this cracker of a book: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High.
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