All thanks to dear young Nithin Jayan who inspired me write about the nuances of the bladder activity. :P This is about a conversation I had with mom and dad on our way back home today.
It all started out with the familiar sight of a man, standing in a desolate corner of a near empty street in the Secunderabad Cantonment area. Why pay attention?? He was relieving himself. It reminded me of this ad I saw on SAHARA FILMY a few days ago. It spoke about Gandhigiri.
THE AD:
Q: to Munnabhai : People relieve themselves anywhere and everywhere, what can we do to stop this?
Munnabhai's answer : Simple. When you find a man relieving himself, just go and stand behind him and wait for him to finish. When he is done, put a garland around his neck, clap and whistle loudly and congratulate him. Then give him a sapling and say "Now that you have provided the water, why dont you plant a sapling too. That way, there'll be greenery at least."
The Ad was funny for sure. You may not see it in my narration. Anyways, as I narrated this ad to my mom, and thus started our debate :
Mom: One cant really help when there are no public toilets around. If its urgent, then its ok.
Me: Mom, we have a lot of Public toilets...those sulabh thingys these days. Why cant they go in there?
Mom: People worry about hygiene at such places.
Me: Mom, its fairly clean. People just dont want to part with Rs 2 to pee.
Mom: No it isnt like that. These toilets arent available everywhere....take for instance this area. Its in the Secunderabad Cantonment board, absolutely secluded, wild bushes and trees all around and no public rest room in sight. What other option do they have?
Me: Does that mean they relieve themselves anywhere?
Mom: Its not all bad. It is going into the soil or to the plants. Its like fertilizer. (huh???)
Me: Whatever, but it gives out a bad smell.
Mom: Ya if too many people relieve themselves at one place. Not in such cases where it is all going to the plants.
Me: Even so...cant men have restraint? I mean, we dont dare do it. Why cant men stop doing it?? Its totally uncivilised the way men relieve themselves in the open. Its embaressing and totally unhygienic.
Mom: I dont completely agree with you. If its urgent then there's no option.
And we changed the topic...while I counted 6 such men relieving themselves as we had this conversation.
I had an American lady staying with us last year. She was on her first trip to India and was baffled to see the crowded streets, cows on the road and people relieving themselves in the open. In her Words : This is the 27th Man I've counted from Delhi to here...I need to take back a picture of the next one I find. How can they do it so openly?
(By the way, her boyfriend had something to add to it : Baby, if you'd counted properly, it would have been three times that number)
(Her boyfriend is an Indian who settled abroad long ago!!)
Just want to know what you think about it. And do you think this will ever stop??
do I approve it - no and yes, depends from case to case.
Have i done it - yes.
why? only when it is absolute necessary (read that I hold it till the last moment and I could not hold it for another minute) and I could not find a toilet in the vicinity. And a habit of drinking 5-7 ltr of water a day is no great help either.
I dont think there are enough public toilets around - I can vouch for Bangalore and kerala - there are not enough public toilets.
If there are sufficent public toilets, will people stop peeing outside? - may be they will, may be they will not. but there will be a change in the numbers for sure...