Just Returned from India.....

Nick-H

On the other hand, I wonder why people don't do it on the streets of London where there are now so few public toilets.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Auntyji

What to do, we are like this only.

Sama

I have to say that this thread makes me want to vomit -- but I guess I could do that on an Indian street and no one would give a

after reading and hearing the horror stories about how filthy India is, I must say after reading this thread that I'm glad my first intro to India was Chennai. As another poster said, I thought Chennai was relatively clean compared to what I had been told about India.....

gee, now I can't wait for those train toilets during my next trip....

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My India, 2005-2008
BE THE REVOLUTION

70s-80s overlander

This morning I was thinking, "What would it cost to donate a public toilet in India?" Somewhat by accident, I just found the answer:

"you could build this toilet for the cost of a radio, just 20 British pounds, 1500 rupees, 35 US dollars," says S. Ramachandran, a retired engineer who now consults for Sulabh International. The toilet he is referring to is a simple canvas and wood shed around a simple Asian squat-type toilet that empties into a composting pit."

Further on in the article it provides an estimate of how long a facilty lasts:
"It takes 10 people two years to fill up one pit [of a two-pit toilet]. Once a pit is filled up, the refuse is diverted to the second pit, allowing the full pit to slowly dry out and break down the human refuse into composted manure that is safe enough to use in agriculture and even household vegetable gardens. By the end of two years, the manure is safe enough to handle."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0210/p06s01-wosc.html

Imagine a network across India of hygienic squatty johns donated by the Indiamike Foundation.

Apparently one of the Sulabh Public Toilet/Bath complexes is across the street from the Old Delhi Train Station. Could one of our "local correspondents" comment on this?

lotus blossom

don't ya love when that happens?! ah, synchronicty.

what a splendid idea. i'd be willing to donate enough for a toilet, and if several of us did, imagine how cleaned up we could get things!

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Not all who wander are lost

70s-80s overlander

There has been plenty of evidence on this thread supporting pessimism -- and sadness, even anger. Here's one more note supporting optimism:

"BLESS is currently implementing a pilot project building ECOSAN toilets in selected villages. The best part is that they are child friendly. The toilets are raised above ground with two sealed receptacles that are alternately filled and emptied. This prevents effluent from human waste from seeping into the ground water, a burning issue in Tamil Nadu given the proximity of the water table from the soil. Once decomposed by bacteria, solid waste will provide organic manure for the soil. The liquid/urine flows to a small kitchen garden.Thus far, ECOSAN toilets planned or built with the support of CARE, the European Commission/ ACTED and Wherever The Need have met with a high level of community interest, especially from women. Bless is Now considering changing a number of the individual latrines to an ECOSAN design, an idea that is gaining momentum and support among donors and international NGOs."
http://www.disasterwatch.net/Best%20Practices/BLESS.htm

Nick-H

TBH, I wouldn't care about people pissing in the street if it rained every few days. We Westerners, perhaps especially we Brits, are far too prissy about this sort of thing. You know; bodily functions? What bodily functions?

lotus blossom

i know lots of people who will not walk out of a store carrying toilet paper that is exposed to the world. it has to be hidden away in a brown paper bag. i like to be real bold about mine upon exiting the store, and you should see the look of horror on some people's faces, as if none of us have a need for such a thing.

70s-80s overlander

1/12/06
Scatological Drama
....
"The amount of shit everywhere is something that you just have to deal with, being there [India].
....
What confused me is that women would be able to hold up their saris through this scatological drama without soiling them – that this, the most scarf and shawl driven society, was able to cope without too much mess. That is why they invented yoga, I guess. It is why all their goddesses have multiple arms."

http://margaretcho.com/blog/blog.htm

Sama

love Margaret Cho....but I think this portion is even more descriptive.....

"I thought I was ghetto, before I went to India. I was so painfully mistaken. I saw a man in a three piece suit take a shit on the sidewalk. That is gangsta!!! He just squatted down and went for it, all the while, casually reading the paper. I love that he had such an air of weary decadence, so that the act of defecating in the street wasn’t enough for him. He still needed something to read."

now THAT'S a mental image!

Nick-H

Never heard of Margaret Cho before. Glad I have done now

iwanttogoback

yes, one of my strongest impressions of india was that there are far less layers between ones body and its functions. not only do many indians freely urinate and defecate in public, death is also much more open - the burning ghats are not something that i think many in the west could cope with.
and it was certainly confronting. the first time i saw somebody defecate in public was on a train coming into delhi from chandigarh. a friend and i were sitting, gazing at the slum we were travelling through when we saw a child squatting, crapping perhaps eight to ten feet from us.
gobsmacked, we turned at the same time and said to each other 'we will never speak of this.'
and then we visited varanasi, and it paled into comparison!

Nick-H

This does not apply to sex. Nobody in India has sex. Goodness knows where all the children come from!

Funilly enough, this is the opposite to Western society where physical intimacy seems to have become accepted in public.

Malkers

This leads me to another question I have always been eager to ask (but never had the courage) an Indian of the 'shower yer arse' variety.

Most places never have toliet paper, just the little high powered showered thingeys, I can't stomach the idea of sticking my fingers up my arse to clean it nor ever will although I'm not suggesting the Indian way is any less clean than smearing it around with dry paper. My missus always has a bog roll in her bag if we are going somewhere without a KFC or Macdonalds or whatever!

My question is this. How can you blast a shower around your arse and then leave the toliet without a big wet stain on your trousers, do you just stand there until it dries, jump up and down or what?

Please tell!

Malc

Nick-H

I love my toilet spray!

Actually, it doesn't leave you very wet, but I keep a small towel in the bathroom to wipe the drips off my legs.

As an inexpert user of a jug, I get more water on the floor than I do on me but the spray leaves one clean and comfortable. No toilet paper in this house!

Oh dear! Another thread turning into a toilet thread?