We eat, we sleep, we all need to pee and poop as well. It’s a natural phenomenon of our physical bodies. Ayurvedic doctors I’ve met in Bangalore and Coimbatore suggest that good defecation 2-3 times/ daily helps maintain a healthy body by ridding us of toxins.
For many years now, I’ve been struggling with going to the bathroom in India when I’m outside. This is generally the case for everyone in the country, and definitely for women.
On road trips, either there are no public or even private (cafes, petrol stations) toilets or washrooms for long, long distances. In railways stations and trains, there ones that are not fit for human usage: they reek of such horrendous stench, one could vomit upon entering; they are dirty with fecal matter or urine all over; or the floor is wet and slippery. Either using an Indian or Western toilet is not a comfortable situation. This also happens in many of the smaller airports (and perhaps even the big ones in metro cities). Toilet seat covers are a rare sight. Washing hands properly with soap is also a difficulty when soap isn’t always available.
Men can sometimes get away with peeing on the roadsides and in little urinals standing. I take offense to this action on many levels; we will delve into that in another post.
When women set out on their daily lives, they plan for bathroom breaks in places that don’t support hygienic bathrooms.
This is what ends up happening:
- We drink water while out to keep hydrated. Can’t find a place to pee, and end up getting Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) from holding all that water in our bladders.
- We don’t drink water, and become dehydrated. This causes issues for chronic conditions such as blood sugar and blood pressure. It can cause headaches, migraines, fatigue, and many other problems. I was just talking to my cousin, Viji, who was visiting Kashi from Chennai and she echoed my concerns also: that after a while, we feel an insatiable need to itch our private parts. And we certainly can’t do that in public! The next morning, our urine is dark yellow or orange: inviting infection to enter!
- We go to the bathroom by trying to stand- or half-squat so that nothing ever touches us– except perhaps our own pee. We try not to let anything touch us, fearful that we will get an infection like a UTI, vaginal infection, other.
Over the years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some of the bathrooms I’ve had the opportunity to use, and I’d like to share my thoughts on them as I go along on my journeys.
This section of Life with Sowmya will review toilets across India, and help you plan your travels to pee appropriately. I will also provide some ideas, tips, and reviews of toilet products which you can consider using!
I hope you will find this useful as you should have a good toilet experience: toilets are, afterall, the Sochanalay, the place to think and philosophize!
