taking showers in India

eater

In the five counties of Eastern Ontario, Canada....there are 32 water systems, 40% of the population has its own private well water......

3 or 4 municipalities have their water supplies contaminated with e coli every year and 3 or 4 systems are put on boil order advisory because of this contamination...

most contamination seems to be due to poor farming practices......beaches are also affected..no swimming allowed..swimming hazard

I have to agree with CYBERHIPPIE, build up immunity with occasional mild infection and just follow accepted practices....

Here's a link to the Walkerton tragedy in Canada....poor water management...does this happen in India? Any such examples reported in India?

http://www.canoe.ca/EcoliTragedy/home.html

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Just happy to be here.........

amyl

this thread reminds me of the Gillette personnels who had visited india on a business trip to the company i work for here in Mumbai.

on returning to US they came up with a document "Dos and Donts when in India" and circulated them in all the Gillette centres in Europe and US. that document, besides many things had one point. it listed "Recommended 5 * hotels" and adviced not to even try anywhere else. the interesting thing mentioned was

"While taking a shower in any of these 5 * hotels please do not open your eyes. THE WATER IS TOXIC"

gosh!!! these foreigners!!! no wonder if they come up with something like "put on a skin tight scuba diving suit(or a waterproof full covering) while taking a shower in India. the water is bad for your skin."

but yea for sure....u got to be careful when it comes to drinking water at public places.

iwanttogoback

oh, you mean that i shouldn't have bothered with the scuba suit. damn!

the thing that amazes me about this thread is how many people brush their teeth in the shower. to me that would seem to add extra time to the shower, thus using extra water, thus wasting water. an big no-no here in oz. not a crime yet, but who knows when...

amyl

well to be clearer on my point let me save some typing and time by quoting what cyberhippie
has quite rightly said

"I'll say it again if you're gonna get sick, you're gonna get sick there are so many bacteria ridden variables, that to dwell too long on what COULD make you sick, does little else than spoil your trip as you try to avoid the unavoidable!"


i personally have learned one thing from all my outings....including my recent Leh trip.

"DO NOT WORRY TOO MUCH" about anything beyond any limit.... no i certainly donot say just be bold enuf to consume any damn water from any damn tank at any damn public place. yea i also agree we got to be careful and at times really prudent at somethings...but things as silly as taking utmost care while under a shower in a 5 * Hotel really sucks and somehow makes me detest such ppl....too particular, overly sophisticated. aaaahhhhhhhh!!! give me a break!!

taking undue caution at each and every thing u do in an outing simply hampers the fun u can have otherwise...it really spoils the game trust me.

anyways

to add to things we can do while under a shower.....one of my freaky friends used to wash clothes while taking a shower ["WEIRD" SMILEY] and that too by putting on the clothes...huf!!!...that makes it easy for him to apply the detergent and rub out the mud he got while in the cricket net. now thats a lot of water saving ain;t it....joking!!
hee heee heee...

This world is full of strange and crazy ppl yeah!!

dan37_123

hi,
this thread is getting me all hyped up. Amazing how mis-informed we are all about the way how our body works and defends itself. Just waiting to hear from some one calling for "individual breathing masks".

Think of these facts:

1. bacteria is every where-even in the air you breath, let along the water.
2. bacteria or any such critters are huge compared to your ASPRIN molecule.
3. its mighty tough for anything bigger than COUPLE OF ASPRIN size molecules to pass through your GI track or your nasal or ear canal mucous membranes.

so its mostly paranoia. Actually eating road side food, and gorggling DEAD MONKEY FERMENTED water for your mouth wash will only improve your immune system. Please google for some scientific articles related to western urbinazation-aka sanitation and the havoc the immune system is unleasing, with special refernce to increased incidence of asthama.

so dont sweat, and enjoy your stay without any phobias in india

good luck
dan

mira4bai4

Well I am sorry but my ethics and principals will not allow me to take a shower, that is considered theft where I come from and the teachings of Swami Vatsamakaulit strictly forbades the act of thievery, more the actual act causes untold havoc and mass destruction, all should be ashamed of themselves whom consider such action, these practices are strictly forbidden and the taking of showers interstate or out of the country is a Felony under the Environmental Pollution and Water Act of 1769, have you not considered the ramifications of taking showers, have you not considered the wanton destruction it causes to the infrastructure, how could such a callous disregard for the rule of law be condoned, have you not considered the disruption this would cause across all the the states of India if taking of showers is continued, no you have not, the water loss alone is incalculable let alone the replacement costs and the potential safety risks to all those that are caught up in the tangle of plumbing being dragged across state lines and on to airplanes, how can you people be so irresponsible, this is simply not a good attitude to have. Shame I say, shame on all of you.

Now be good little IM'ers and put it all back and we shall say no more about it least we cause an international controversy.

PRIYA

My thoughts exactly and pranaams to Swami Vatsamakaulit!!!!
A very intuitive fella.

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tomprice20

i'm afraid that fact is moot if your mouth has lesions of any sort, gingivitis included. an argument for oral hygiene then... perhaps we should all be brushing our teeth in the shower?

Vagabond_

Im not going to lie and say that I am conscious about wasting water while taking a shower in India, but this is my story:

I was extremeley dissapointed with the pressure I had from Indian showers. Certainly I wasnt expecting anything impressive, but what I saw were mere overhead faucets-crap. So I saw myself taking bucket showers all the time, the most comfortable way of taking showers in India. I could take a quality shower on about half a bucket of water, take that environmently conscious panda!

I brushed my teeth and everything with tap water, and its pretty ridiculous to be scared of that, considering the only precaution worthy of your time is just not to swallow the damned water.

lotus blossom

when i arrived delhi i used bottled water to brush my teeth (but now we all know about the purity of bottled H20 with the recent post). as i was on my way out of india staying in delhi i never had enough bottled water on hand to use it for teeth brushing (it was soooo hot that i needed every drop for drinking!) i did not bother using bottled water in dharamsala or kashmir; though with the recent news i've read about the water of dal lake it may have been a good idea).

there is a theory that exposing yourself to some germs, bacteria, etc. helps your immune system build some resistance, but in small amounts. being too germ phobic can actually be more of a detriment as in japan where they use anti-bacterial cleansers and sprays so often that their immune systems are suffering.

i wrote something when i was in kashmir about bathing on a bucket of water a day. amazing how clean one can get on so little water once you have the system down. and with the water issue in the world, we need to look at curbing our usage.

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Not all who wander are lost

mira4bai4

Recently I replaced the grout in my shower and it was out of action for a few days so standing outside at the edge of the bush with a bucket of hot water in the middle of our winter (warm) sudsing up and rinsing off with a cup and then pouring the remaining half bucket slowly over the head was really nice.

Also buckets are easier to transport interstate and internationally.

Nick-H

:laugh

I had a recent reunion with a long-lost cousin who is in the hotel business. In fact he runs a very, very fine hotel and I was interested to hear about various aspects of managing the place and asked if he needed a large maintenance staff.

"Oh, Indeed," he replied, looking bemused, "I just don't understand why people pay so much money to stay here and then do do so much damage to the place!"

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

camelgirl

Ah finally, a fellow bucket shower person! Was wondering when this would finally be mentioned. Ye old bucket shower....this is the best and most reasonable way, even if there happens to be the overhead type. Just fill the big bucket and use the smaller one (or cup) for wetting, rinsing. No hanging around for all that singing and "other stuff". And I also have always used tap water for teeth brushing , just being careful not to swallow any water.

OzThumper

Best thing is to avoid any water in the mouth full-stop. Saw a couple of posts about just not swallowing, however all it takes is a small break in the lining of the mouth, or gum problems to allow the bacteria into the system thus causing any number of problems.

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Dave
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I started with nothing and still have most of it left.

OzThumper

Is it possible that some guys multi-task, and both sing and participate in "self-gratification" at the same time?