No, this is not a review of the movie ‘Toilet’! It is not a post about
the problems that many people, especially women, who do not have access to
closed toilets, face. Having access to closed toilets is definitely a basic
condition to living. Living in safety and living in hygienic condition. When we
travel by road many of us I am sure have at least once, if not more, come
across such a situation where we have found no proper place to relieve our
self. Women especially face this problem. These days, however, one does find
highway resorts where there are proper toilets. But such was not the case about
say 10-15 years back. Imagine, when we get so frustrated and angry for just
this one day, what women who have to face this problem day in and day out must
be going through! I hope the situation improves and closed toilets become a
norm and not remain a topic for movies and documentaries.
My post is from a
slightly different angle, though it too has to do with toilets. Many urbanites
today face problems when they may have to use Indian toilets in the absence of
western ones. Since most houses come with western toilets, people find it
difficult to squat. Our children especially are so used to western style
toilets that when they see the Indian type it leaves them bewildered and also
in awe of them! When my daughter saw this style for the first time she just
couldn’t stop gaping at the open structure and wondering as to how does one
relieve oneself in it! She was very hesitant to enter. It took her quite a
couple of road trips and public toilets to get the hang of it!
A few months back she had
gone on a school trip to Bal Bhawan in Delhi. When I asked her how was the trip
the first thing that she had to tell me was about the toilets there! Here is
what she narrated to me. “Mumma, you know what! We all wanted to use the toilet,
so our ma’m asked us to stand in a queue and use the toilet one by one. Now
there were two toilets Mumma, one Indian style and the other Western. Everyone
was crowding in front of the western toilet. There was no queue for the Indian
toilet. So I quickly went inside the Indian one and relieved myself. All my
other friends had to stand in the cue because many of them did not know how to
use the Indian toilet!”
She could not contain
her excitement! And I could not but feel extremely amused at her excitement and
feeling of achievement. I too felt glad that I had encouraged her on many trips
and occasions to try and use the Indian styled toilets because one never knows
when you might have to use one, especially while travelling in India.
While I congratulated
her over her achievement and told her that now she was ready for travelling
anywhere in India, what struck me about this whole incident was how using an
Indian toilet was not much of an issue for us but it was like an adventure and
feeling of triumph for my daughter! And
that which was a matter of fact for us and a sense of adventure and triumph for
our children still remains to become a reality for many in our country…
