How Claudia and I look at India is totally, literally different: she looks down, and I look at.

Today is the first time that difference has hit me. We were walking down Kolkata's Chittaranjan Ave., a massive thoroughfare with tons and tons of people. One of the routines we've established, is that I always walk either behind Claudia, or beside and a little behind her. It seemed to divert a little, ahem, unwanted attention (though if I got 10 rupees from every guy who eyed her up and down, I could easily travel for another year).

As we walk, Claudia looks down. As a woman, she said, making eye contact with Indian men isn't a good idea. She explained to me that one of the ways a man in India can identify, say, a Hindu prostitute, is that if he stares at her, she stares back. If Claudia looks a man in the eye here he isn't necessarily going to think she's a hooker, but there will be an unconscious - or, yes, maybe conscious - association as he stares back at this Western girl. So she looks down when she walks.

I tend to look people in the eye. Not always; it's a habit that I don't have to break here. Usually, I catch the eye of people who are eyeing up her. (Guy moment: Ladies, we always know when a man is looking at you. It's a bit of telepathy we have going on; maybe it's some sort of protective instinct, but we always know.)

Here in India, it's even easier to tell. You don't need an instinct: Staring is not a taboo here as it is in the States. Men passing by us today - and especially a traffic cop who gave himself slow whiplash as we crossed a street - did nothing but elevator-eye her. I would usually broadcast a quick look - another bit of guy telepathy - "Oy jackass, don't look at my wife like that!" (She isn't mind you, but still).

Call it a chauvanistic society. Call me protective. It is, and I am. Do the stares bother me? A little. Claudia's always gotten looks (though she never believes me); here it's just more blatant. Does my eye contact and little mental message stop the stares? No. My hope is that they discourage a progression from casual eye-up to a quick bout of "oh, let's see if I can pinch the white girl's ass."

What bothers me most, is knowing that Claudia looks down because she shouldn't risk looking people in the eye while just walking down a street. She has to pull more defensive diligence than I could ever know. If someone approaches me, after all, at the worst they're after my money. If someone approaches Claudia, yeah, they could be after her money... or a quick grope... or, hell, why not both?

If someone actually did grope Claudia, she'd knock them flat. I probably wouldn't have to make a move - I doubt I'd even have time to. She can fight, but she shouldn't look up. So I look on, and she watches the feet of India go by.