toilet advice

Ha ha....true man. Only in the West would we cut down a tree in order to keep our hands from being 'yucky'....ha ha

Are hand sanitizers, wet wipes and mosquito repellent easily found in India shops?

yes they are

Hand Sanitizers are Wet wipes in most large cities at Medical stores and large groceries. Mosquito repellant cream at medical shops, Coils and vaporiser at most goceries.

... but how are you going to dispose of your wet-wipes?**
Soap (carbolic if required) and water are also available!

unlike toilet tissue wet-wipes are not readily biodegradable (or flushable)

AndyD 8-)₹

Yes, but it does depend on where you are! Most places on the tourist trail will have these things, though it's always worth carrying spare with you when you move on to the next place, as you never know! Also, DEET based repellants are rare (mostly you get this herbal cream which I found did diddly squat) and the best I found had 15% DEET (just have to use it more often). My next visit, I'm taking extra reserves of high content (at least 50%) DEET repellant!

I also take a couple of these for the trains etc:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/KIMBERLY-CLA.../dp/B002KHOKNE

very handy!

Yes, hand sanitiser is available, but do please always wash your hands with soap and water instead if possible. Wash off the grime and grit from the city -- grime and grit with dead organisms and toxic chemicals is not so nice to eat!

... but then, if in a restaurant, do avoid touching the taps, or washbasin, or towels, ....

AndyD 8-)₹

After washing my hands, really well, soap, scrubbing and all, I turn to leave the gents, and find myself faced by an inwards-opening door and, of course ...a door handle!

Those microbes will not let you get away. They have everything covered, and you have to touch something

Well yeah, use the hand sanitiser if you like, after touching the door handle and the tap and whatnot (I don't touch those towels though). But don't just smear hand sanitiser all around on the grime of the city that has collected on your hands, and then eat!!!

Enjoy your chapati, your nan, a piece of chicken or meat!

It never ceases to amaze me watching people do just THAT... there MIGHT be a microbe in the water after all.... Yuk.

Consider Tush Wipes, which are both flushable and biodegradable – and splendidly portable, being individually packaged.

Tush Wipes

I also note that Scott Naturals wet wipes in the USA are flushable and biodegradable; and I believe other, somewhat more expensive brands, make the same claim.

I don't mean to get into a dispute over whether either of these is "readily" biodegradable, but both can be used with less fretting than I think you anticipate.

Drwhocares gave a graphic description of the process, which not only leaves you cleaner, but also gives you a free digital exam every day.
While going to the depths that the doctor advises is not necessary, I certainly do agree that water is the way to go. If you are eating the local diet, there is little to clean. When I am in India, my colon wakes up shortly after I do, like a clock. By the time I have finished brushing, the colon is fully wake. As described by many before me, you pour water in the palm of your left hand from the mug, using your right hand, and throw the water at your huaha, so that the added momentum washes your huaha. This is what I was taught when growing up in India.

I am surprised that I have heard much about French bidets, but not a word about the Japanese toilets. They are the best, the kind in my hotel, not in public places. The seat is fitted with a jet that directs warm water at your hinder areas in oval and back and forth fashion. There is a control panel on the side, (left or right, your choice), that adjusts the water temperature, the angle and the flow rate. There is also a remote control. I am sold on it, and going to install on in my house.

In India, you can get by without the heated water most of the year. my family in India have installed a gadget to the underside of toilet seat that shoots water tat your huaha in all their homes.
Of course none of this is of any help in public places as it wouldn't last a day. Even my stomach churns when I walk into some public toilets in India, especially at places like petrol pumps or places where buses halt. I have to admire the attitude of those who have grown up with far more pleasant bathrooms than most Indians have, with which they approach the menace of Indian toilets.
Don't you ever wonder what is it that makes people go on the floor when there is clearly a hole in the ground!
Indian toilets, you can live without them and you can't live with them.

I have used the self cleaning (by pigs) toilets in Rishikesh in my uncle's house. I was about 5 then. I was so scared.Even though the whole that I spanned with my little feet was well above the reach of the pig, I was terrified about the pig going beyond its call of duty. There was hired hand to clean where the refuse landed on the ground. He must have left the gate open in the back yard, that allowed the pig to get in.
There was a row of six holes, each separated by a small partition between them, for men, a tall partition and another row of six for women. The whole thing was enclosed by 1-ft walls and was covered by a roof.

I remember going to a relative's house, again, when I was very little, for a wedding. We stayed there for three days, and I held it in until we got home. Nothing like your own toilet.

Permit me forcefully to disagree.

What you say may be true for some metabolisms. It is otherwise for others.

What cam I say!
You can disagree with me as forcefully as you like without my permission.