On my first trip to India I was warned that toileting was something to get used to. I was prepared for a fancy hole in the ground and no toilet paper. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at my in-laws' house and found a modern western bathroom complete with a roll of toilet paper! I later found out that they had remodelled that bathroom with me in mind. How sweet.
My sister in law Kamini once confided that Indians think Americans are disgusting for wiping themselves with paper. "How can one truly get clean?" she asked? I agreed, although I had never thought about it until that moment.
So after my stock of toilet paper ran out I was determined to "go native." They had installed a hand sprayer with a head on it that is similar to what you find next to the kitchen sink in some houses. I learned the hard way to press down gently unless I wanted my entire backside blasted with a ricochet of water all over the tank and wall. I also learned the hard way to avoid using the toilet sprayer after early morning. You see, their house has a shallow well dug under it which they fill with water trucked in from the mountain. The local tap water is not supposed to be real clean. The pump on top of the well sends the water to pipes on the roof of the two-story house and then gravity pulls it down into the house and creates a siphon effect. Well, the metal water pipes sit there and bake in the Indian sun and if no one has used the water for awhile it flows straight into the little toilet sprayer and I get the full near-boiling hot water treatment. The alternate method is to keep a bucket full of water next to the toilet and use what looks like a large liquid measuring cup with a spout and handle to clean yourself. (I also preferred the bucket method of bathing-- same concept-- because of the hot pipes, if I bathed after early morning or learned to mix a little hot water in a bucket of cold. Yes it is possible to have a complete shower with just 2.5 gallons of water.)
On my tour of India I came across many bathrooms. Here are the ones I remember the most:
-- The paid bathroom outside a temple. It had a row of stalls with concrete floors that were sprinkled with bleach powder. Problem was, there was no actual toilet. Just a slanted floor with a small drain in one corner. We had to pee on the actual floor. I guess they didn't want people pooping in their bathrooms! There was no bucket and cup to wash with. Just a waist-high faucet sticking out of the wall. When one positioned one's posterior under the faucet hoping for a dribble to wash with, instead one was blasted with a shower-like spray at high water pressure. The intention was to wash the stall completely. It was with some amusement that I watched person after person emerge from the bathroom completely drenched. But it was so hot I think after we got over the embarrassment we were grateful for it.
-- The bathroom in someone's house in the village. It was a communal home with several large family areas and a central courtyard. It was put together hodge-podge with concrete, corrugated plastic and steel roofs, and a central bathroom for everyone. It had the traditional squat toilet but what it did not have was a flush or any running water. One was expected to pour the bucket down the toilet after doing one's business and then refilling the bucket for the next person.
-- The dirty hostel in Tirupati. There was some mix-up with our hotel so we were forced to stay at the hostel. The sheets were very much used, the floors were filthy and we laid newspaper down. There was this huge stainless steel drum of water sitting under a dripping tap. I could never get the tap to turn on past a drip so I was forced to use the water in the drum for toilet purposes. Who knows who else had used that water or what for? Even though we had hiked about 10 km up a mountain path and were sweaty, I chose not to take a bath. I know I sound prudish when so many in India don't have fresh water. But at the time I was just thinking that a Motel 6 sounded great.
-- The bathroom at my mother-in-law's sister's house. It was a standard family bathroom, but the thing was that my cousin-in-law had just taken a shower so the bathroom was all steamy. The pressboard door didn't shut very well so I pulled it shut tighter. I discovered that it was stuck tight and I was trapped in there and no amount of pushing could open the door. Finally someone noticed I was missing and they pulled then handle and got me out.
-- Saving the best for last. We were travelling through the countryside and I just had to use the bathroom. We stopped by a roadside tea stand and found a mud brick bathroom. The concrete floor was filthy with human waste. The toilet drained just to outside and down a shallow grade to a grassy field. The thing that really got me though, was that I was told by the tea stand owner to dip my own water before I went in, as there was no bucket. He pointed to a algea-green goat trough. Yeah, I survived that one too.
That being said, I'm sure that all but the last toilet were still a heck of a lot cleaner than a toilet at any Wal-Mart in the U.S.
I have been told that this time we are going to five star hotels because of Nitara's health needs, her need for clean water and an outlet to recharge her pump battery. In a way I think I will miss the adventure of roughing it. Almost.
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1 comment:
Darshani! I'm so glad you've started a blog and I've found it! I subscribed to your yahoo blog, but after a while managed to loose it...I can't wait to read more about your previous adventures and the adventures to come!
angela
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