Pissing...

 

This is a public urinal in Delhi. Pissing in India can be an art, depending on where you are.

In my younger days, when I was very young and not so innocent, I had too much to drink, one evening.Way to much beer in the system. And, as does happen in these  things, something had to give. My bladder. So, I stood on the road side and pissed away to "hell and glory", yelling to everyone that they were welcome to come and see the special public fountain show!

Another time, I had to do a little more than pee. Well, I popped into the public loo, crapped. And, surprise, surprise, there was nothing with which I could clean my bum. So, I took out all the money I had ( almost all, anyway), and cleaned up. The toilet was stinking.

Generally, when you have to go to a public loo in India, one of the first things you have to do, is to hold your nose, to avoid being blown away by the stench. Then, you have to perform the delicate task of balancing/standing in the one or two relatively clean spots on the ground. And then, you have to perform.

If the job requires more than pissing, the delicate art of balancing becomes more intricate. You have to squat, hold your trousers up, hold the shirt tails up with one hand. With the other hand, you have to hold the door, to prevent it from swinging open. And then, you have to perform.

Now all of this is, is what a man has to do in order to relieve himself in a public toilet in India.

Women have it easier, in a sense!! The toilets are generally too dirty for them to use, else they will end up with gynecological problems, and only make pharmaceutical companies and doctors rich. So, they simply have to control themselves, and pray they their bladders don't burst on the way home. But, no delicate balancing acts are to be performed, mind you!

The question then arises, is why on earth we cannot build a culture of public hygiene in the country. We do have a lot of problems, and this is definitely one of them. Apart from being an eyesore, and creating an unpleasant experience, these places are also the hot beds of disease and filth.

Our country is developing inmany spheres. This is not one of them. However, with the economic development of the country, there will bean increasing number of foreigners coming into the country. These places do nothing for our image as a country.

As our country develops, hopefully we Indians will become more aware of the perils of these unsightly public toilets, which are a health hazard, as well as being a blight aesthetically.

Till then, the art of pissing in public will continue. An art that deserves to die a quick death. 

Comments

[ReloMary]

Quite the post, Rajiv! My son is going to travel to India shortly (he says) and I will tell him he'd better have plenty of money if he doesn't have loo paper! :-) Hope you'll check out my blog as well. I will enjoy reading your articles and learning more. Great reading!!

So good to catch up with you once again. ~Mary