toilet advice

sudheer poppa

I think the concern is that with high water level, each dropping will result in counter action and some water flying up to stick on your a**. I certainly do not like water from toilet recoiling into my body - anywhere!


And with this being such a popular topic, we need to have a category of threads dedicated to "Indian Toilet help, annoyances and advice"

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iwanttogoback

aah yes, that makes sense. it's just that we have quite a low water level in our toilets here so i couldn't quite understand the problem.

counter actions

Malkers

Thats an easy one surely, the same loo paper that you use to wipe the toilet seat after you have wet wiped it, you load that loosely into the toilet and drop your little pressie straight into that, no splashes!!

K53

On my current trip I've noticed something new: lots of Western-style toilets with built in little spiggots that squirt water in just the right place after you've fnished. Designed by anal obsessives (no pun intended!) there's no need to even touch! Have also seen a lot of little metal "hoses" beside the toilet so you can squirt clean - requires less skill than using the "dipper".

OK, can't resist talking toilets a bit more. I've always been bewildered by (as someone mentioned in an earlier post) the piles on the ground as you walk into the toilet: I mean...nowhere near the hole. This trip someone explaned to me that you often see this at train stations, as lots of village people on pilgrimages use them. They are used to squatting on the ground, & don't have toilets with holes, so don't understand the concept of what the hole is for. Do people think this is a likely explanantion?

sudheer poppa

Its soo darn difficult to use a politically correct language on this topic !!!

gentoo

Off Topic

counter actions

How dare you question American counter-actions? Perhaps you should first examine your actions before blaming “counter-actions”.

You just need to hover a little above the bowl to offset counter-actions. You non-American science-geeks will no doubt hypothesize that an increase in hover-height would result in a increase in the counter-action. I could explain why you are wrong, but you would need some familiarity with post-Newtonian physics. : )

I do believe American toilet bowls (oval, shallow, with lots of water) are better than the Indian-western ones (round, deep and with very little water). In fact older American toilets used even more water. Government regulations in the 1990s mandated that new houses be built with “low-flow toilets”. I’ve heard rumors that, when the law first came into effect there was a black-market for older toilets. If you paid your builder something on the side, you could get one of the older legacy toilets installed. The government really should have stayed out of this area. And people wonder why the country is going Republican.

I remember once during a baseball radio broadcast, the sportscaster using the following simile to describe a pitcher whose arm was beginning to tire, “he is struggling like a low flow toilet” Yes, I know, we are a nation of poets.

gentoo

Something a little more on-topic : ))

I once went to the movies with my Indian cousins. And during the interval I asked one of my female cousins where the restrooms were. And she shot me a glance that lasted less than a second but said about three things.

One—If you are male, if possible direct your bathroom questions to other males. But if possible avoid asking an “uncle” ask someone younger. This applies even you yourself are an “uncle”. I’m making this sound peculiarly Indian, I guess even in America bathroom or sex talk (of a certain kind) is normally carried out with members of your own sex. But in India it seems more of a social transgression to ask members of the opposite sex. Am I over complicating this?

Two – Indians of a certain “class” avoid public restrooms as much as possible. Because they know what they are like. (Actually, I think I used the more than they ever did, I am not sure how much experience they’ve had, but they certainly avoid them.) I’ve been on overnight train trips with my family, and I’ve rarely if ever seen some cousins use the bathroom. In fact my aunt who knows about their proclivities will go use the bathroom and come back and tell them that it is clean enough. This causes them to die of embarrassment, especially if there are other people within ear shot. Quite funny. But still they won’t use them.

Three – Indians in general, get their morning stuff done in the morning. This is good idea because you don’t have to deal with it later. This goes for showers as well, if you are staying in someone’s home. If you are like me and like to putter around for a while after you wake up before you take a shower – this will mean that the water heater (geezer) will have to remain on till you decide to take a bath. They will normally think it odd anyway (geezer or no geezer) if you don’t take your shower in the morning. They will also find it odd if you like to let the water run while you are brushing your teeth. : )) Perhaps all this should be best left for a thread on the 1001 things that Indians will find odd about you.

camelgirl

Thank you gentoo, very good information!!!

This thread really makes my day.....puts me in a good mood!

Many years ago I used to have a lot of great "toilet" stories from my first & subsequent trips to India. I thought I should have written a book (a short book ). Never did, but I think someone else did!

Here is the "book" distilled into one paragraph......

Of course it started with the first "squats" encountered in the Istanbul hotel, went on to squatting at the side of the road from Turkey through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. With a nice short tale of asking the Border Agent at the Iran-Afghan Border where the toilet was and he led me through the building to the back door and pointed to the field behind it!! Then there were the other stories of confusion, embarassment & inconvenience, like balancing on the edge of a steep hill while someone tried to hide me from passersby on the road, or the patches of dirt with a low wall around them where all the village women were squatting & everyone stopped to stare at me when I did and last but not least, the shock of my first morning in a Goa families house when I went to the outhouse, which was new and clean, squatted down and a pig put his head right up through the hole--I ran back to the house, got my boyfriend (now husband) to go have a look and all he said was, yes, there's a pig in that toilet and I peed on his head--I was constipated for the whole week I was there ...... Those were the "good old days "

kalyani68

One thing that no one has mentioned is that you need three hands to do any such bathroom business. One holds up your clothes and the other washes the ol' hiney. The third is needed to swat away any hungry mosquitoes who threaten to feast on your unprotected bare bottom. Almost every Indian bathroom I saw had a unscreened window open to the outside, inviting in every biting insect within a 50 mile radius!

Attached is a picture of a really nice bathroom, belonging to some friends in Cochin. After spending a few rustic days in the boonies of Kerala, I was so happy to see a nice clean bathroom that I had to take a picture of it! Enjoy!

kalyani68

My apologies to those with dial-up connections. I have yet to figure out how to make thumbnail images....

doofus

Back in the seventies we didn't use loo paper so we never had a problem. That is what the left hand was for! Of course, washing hands after was mandatory.

jivan

It was really funny to read everything. Being a native & been close to 30 yrs. atleast once everyday makes me somewhat an authority on that matter. For sure the rest 100 million would be same. Anyway that being said :-
gentoo for sure almost all bathroom questions are usually supposed to be with the same sex & probably with somebody close to u'r age.
I remember the 1st time I had to share 'how to do stuff' to people in a rainbow gathering numbering around 100 odd people (with lots of beautiful girls/women) who had the same questions as u & I. Anyway had got the message that they were serious gave a demo (without any residue) while explaining each posture/balance & things to take note of. The whole affair lasted for an hr. with lots of Q&A. It was almost like I was doing a technical presentation back in office or in a conference somewhere
It's actually very similar to yoga & the whole thing is a kriya(complete process is the closest word I guess) in itself. As it's one of the most natural things that we do everyday, it's suprising that people still feel emberrased to talk about it.
One thing for sure women need to be more discreet than men anyhow. Good job people.

tigerwatcher

Toilet Advice.
Whatever the country,whatever the style of toilet and whatever your chosen cleansing method,one should bear in mind that great maxim,"Constipation is the thief of time but diarrhoea waits for no man".

jivan

9hanover

Depends where you're staying - the more upmarket hotels have toilets that are up to western standards.