white people walking

At home there's an unspoken given that if you pass someone coming from the opposite direction when walking the trails, you generally smile and nod at them. It's a tradition I love - kind of an acknowledgment of a kindred spirit, someone else who could be anywhere but chose to be among the trees instead. Since arriving in Gokulam, I've joined the dozens of others walking around the lake at dusk each night and, as is the case with home, I smile and nod at those I pass. Unlike home, however, I restrict my smiling to the other single women walking.

It's taken me a few weeks to catch on but I don't think the whole "kindred spirit walking" thing flies here. Instead of smiling back, most just look at me perplexed and then we have this whole awkward moment when I pass them again on the other side of the lake - do I smile again now that I've set a precedent? Avoid eye contact altogether and pretend it never happened? What if they think I'm rude?

Now that I've clued into the lack of smiles in return I'm wondering what it is they're thinking. Here I think I'm being polite and they're probably preparing posters warning innocent walkers of the weird white girl who hangs around the lake at dusk each night trolling for women. I do have competition for weirdness though, it's the other westerner who's always there jogging laps around the lake while dressed in jeans, button down shirt, belt and dress shoes.

Between the two of us I'm afraid we're not doing very much to further the acceptance of white people walking...