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What's In A Namaste? Depends If You Live In India Or The U.S. : Goats and Soda : NPR
by thenewgreen

    I also developed my own relationship with namaste. My father expected us, mostly me as the eldest son, to touch our relatives' feet. You bend down, touch the feet with both hands, then touch your forehead. Touching people's feet, in Hindu culture, is considered to be the highest degree of respect you can give to your elders. It is reserved for grandparents, parents, teachers and a few relatives — ones who were considered as deities.

    Sometimes I didn't feel like touching their feet. So I'd try to get away with just a namaste. When my father caught me doing that, he said, "No, no, no. You ought to touch his feet." I'd reluctantly bend down and graze my hands around the person's knees, which was still not as good in my father's eyes. He wanted me to touch the feet, not knees.

    But sometimes, I did get away with just saying namaste. It made me feel good. I could blurt it out from where I was, with no foot contact