KSS Pillai
Come Gandhi Jayanti, leaders become vocal about cleanliness, giving the example of Mahatma Gandhi himself. Some go in groups to public places like beaches and gardens, collect garbage after wearing protective gloves, and pose for photographs with new brooms in their hands. Although the country's Prime Minister often advocates cleanliness in all places, the exercise has remained a ritual.
During my childhood, houses in the villages did not have bathrooms, and piped water was not even heard of. Naturally, there were no advertisements about toilet cleaners, either. As the water of the rivers and canals was not polluted, some used it daily. Almost every house had a well, and its water was used for all purposes.
Men and children went to their compound or that of the neighbours to defecate. Women used to get up before sunrise for this purpose. Many still harbour this liking for the outdoors even after houses with washrooms have come up. Recently, a social media post showed a man sitting among shrubs in the neighbour's compound to defecate. The female owner of the compound takes objection. The man explains that he enjoys sitting in the open in the gentle wind while relieving himself. The furious woman offers to buy a fan for him if he is so fond of wind but asks the man not to dirty her compound.
Usually, vehicles stopped on the roadside to allow people to urinate behind bushes or trees. Petrol pumps and hotels on the roadsides were not required to maintain washrooms for the road users.
In the past, most people in my village used to go to the nearby river, which had a bathing ghat, to take a bath in the mornings. They also used the open plots on the river banks to relieve themselves before bathing.
Even schools did not have proper washrooms. Far away from the classrooms, they had large enclosures with woven coconut leaves for students to urinate. Of course, they took care to see that the male and female students had enclosures away from each other.
Various governments have been spending money to construct toilets for the poor. Gone are the days when people built temporary enclosures as toilets with holes dug in the soil, which was covered with soil after use. The days of people emptying tins kept in toilets and carrying them to distant places are also over, as there are underground drainages for carrying discharges from bathrooms and toilets.
Despite all this, the problem of people using the open air for this purpose persists. Sometimes, there won't be water-carrying pipes in the toilets, making the owners use those bathrooms for other purposes.
Our railway tracks are notorious for people residing nearby using them to relieve themselves. Most of the railway stations are also dirty as passengers use the stoppage as toilet stoppage for their children.
I remember when most trains did not have reserved compartments, and the passengers used to occupy even the toilets. When someone told them he wanted to use the toilet, he would be asked to go ahead while the other occupants closed their eyes as there was no other place for them to go.