Shaking hands is common, especially in the large cities among the more educated who are accustomed to dealing with westerners. Men may shake hands with other men and women may shake hands with other women; however, there are seldom handshakes between men and women, often due to religious beliefs. The important rule is that shaking a woman’s hand is at the woman’s initiative—only when an Indian woman offers her hand is it acceptable to shake it. In the absence of a handshake, the custom all over India is the greeting of peace known as Namaste. When making this greeting, hold the palms of both hands together under the chin, smile, bow slightly, and say Namaste.