East Vs. West: Who Has the 'Better' Toilet?

This blog post is not for the sensitive.

We all know what the typical Western toilet bowl looks like and how to use it. We know that we can sit comfortably and relaxed on our own toilet at home, and that outside we should always 'hover' over the seat or at least put down a protective layer of toilet paper before sitting on a public toilet.

Western Toilet

Then, we have the Eastern toilet; a little bit closer to nature.

Eastern Toilet

The rules apply a little bit differently with the Eastern Toilet. For starters, your sitting position is completely different; have a look:

A lot of Westerners, myself included, have difficulty with this position because we never naturally sit this way.

Secondly, the surroundings of the Eastern toilet are usually wet because there is always a running water tap nearby. Why is a water tap necessary, you ask? GREAT QUESTION. No toilet paper allowed in the Eastern Toilet. That's right folks, while using the Eastern toilet you clean yourself with your God-given utensils: your own hand and some water.

Now, I know what you might be thinking...it seems strange, maybe even gross to use your hand and water 'down there.' But think about it from a different side; say you used water your whole life and found out that some people only use toilet paper. That's like saying my hands got covered in mud, but no worries, i wiped them off with a napkin and now they're perfectly clean. No water necessary.

Another interesting fact I bet you didn't know is that there are actually health benefits to this squatting position of the Eastern toilet. A friend of mine shared this link with me and though I'm not sure how scientific or credible it is, its still interesting. click here if you dare. (Warning: this website contains even more sensitive information).

In our home now we only have an Eastern toilet so I've gotten used to it mostly, and I do believe that things flow out more easily in the squatting position than they do in the sitting position of a Western toilet. I haven't adopted the water-only policy and still consider toilet paper highly valuable and necessary, and don't think I'll let go of that one for a loooong time.

Here's a photo that I got from the internet but I have actually seen pictures like this near public toilets in India.

If you've never seen a Western toilet, you might be confused :)

And another neat little invention I've discovered is a toilet converter, maybe we'll get one of these for when we go back home to the U.S. ;)

Thanks for reading, hope I didn't gross you out.

Just Because Its A Gate, Doesn't Make It The Entrance

Abhinav and I just returned from what seemed like a loooong trip to Delhi (more on this next time). So for now here's a picture (or two). India Gate, dedicated to India's soldiers who died in WWI and the Afghan Wars.

For Your Entertainment

Here's another song to listen to, this one not quite so 'young.' Rather, this one is a love song...one of my favorite Hindi songs from the movie Lagaan. If you've ever thought about checking out an Indian movie, Lagaan is a good one to watch (but be ready to sit because its over 2 hours long). Check out your local library to rent it, my grandma was able to find it at hers, so give it a try!

'Oh Re Chori' from Lagaan

Story Of A Janky Bus Ride

Janky : (adjective) inferior quality; held in low social regard; old and dilapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people. adjective used to describe a person, place or thing which is questionable, wrong, strange, broken down, undesirable, and/or just some thing you can't think of another word for. --definition courtesy of urban dictionary

It had been a long night and day of travel and work. Delhi is known for its extreme heat in summers and we had witnessed exactly that. We arrived in Delhi by train in the early morning and spent the whole day traveling around the city trying to get my Visa situation taken care of. Abhinav and I were both exhausted, hot, and dirty; it was time to go home. At the ISBT (Inter-State Bus Terminal) in Delhi we searched for a bus that could take us home. There were two buses going our direction and neither of them looked comfortable or clean, but the A.C. bus wasn't arriving for another hour-and-a-half. Figuring it was better to just take an old dirty bus now, rather than wait around for a better one (it was getting late and Abhi had to be at work in the morning), we boarded what would be the most awkward and miserable bus ride ever.

We took our seats in an empty row near the back and the bus left shortly after that, around 7pm-just in time for rush hour traffic. For starters, the man sitting across from us decided he wanted to smoke and lit up his cigarette. Now honestly, who smokes on a crowded bus? Have a little respects for others, why don't ya. Abhinav kindly asked the man not to smoke and he put it out right then. No problem there. About five minutes later that same man decided, 'well, if I can't smoke I might as well drink,' and we watched as he very sneakily poured liquor into a chai cup and downed it. Still not a big deal, as long as he kept to himself, right? Its just that drinking in public is very taboo here, you rarely ever see it, so to see the man drinking on the bus was a little uncomforting.

After a while a group of rowdy and obnoxious young guys got on the bus and sat right in front of us. After nearly 24 hours of straight traveling, the last thing we really wanted was to deal with this group of annoying wannabe thugs, so we just sat quietly and minded our own business, hoping they would do the same.

Being a foreigner in India can attract a lot of stares and strange looks from people, especially being married to an Indian. Usually I don't mind it but sometimes people just don't know when to look away. Its like they don't understand that social que of when someone catches you looking at them, you stop looking. These guys sitting in front of us were exactly that type. One of them would literally do a full 180 degree turn and STARE at me, and not just one time but multiple times. I don't like to cause a fuss but he was making both Abhinav and me really uncomfortable. I could feel Abhinav's anger bubbling and after a while he had had enough; time for a confrontation. Abhi tapped the guy on the shoulder and asked him what his problem was, why he kept turning around, and suggested that he keep his eyes forward for the rest of the bus ride. The guy turned around and faced the front but him and his friends were only more excited that they had gotten Abhinav riled up.

Later on one of the guys in front of us turned around to ask us if he could smoke, to which an already annoyed Abhinav replied 'most definitely not.' This caused another little confrontation but eventually the guy relented and put away his matches.

We sat for a while as the bus rolled along (very slowly), our heads bobbing- not awake but not asleep- when suddenly I smelled something peculiar. Weed. I asked Abhi, 'do you smell that?' 'Yeah, they're smoking marijuana.' By this time other people at the front of the bus had already been smoking cigarettes without the conductor saying anything so I guess that meant a free-for-all to anyone who wanted to smoke. For our guys it meant a go-ahead on the pot. Not wanting any more arguments, all we could do now was fully open our windows, sit quietly, and hope that the bus driver would put the pedal to the meta and get us home asap. These guys decided to light up twice before we made it home. Who knows, I might have gotten a little high from the second-hand smoke (is that possible?)...or maybe I was just really tired.

We reached our city around 12:30am (the same time as the A.C. bus that left nearly 2 hours after us) and jumped off that bus as fast as we could. It had never felt so good to be home.

Wat Amavasya

Yesterday we celebrated a small festival called Wat Amavasya, in which wives pray for the long lives of their husbands. Wat is the Hindi name for the Banyan tree and Amavasya is the name for a New Moon day. In this festival the Banyan tree is recognized for its size and age and represents the long life that women hope for their husbands. In Indian culture there are four festivals per year of this nature in which the wives pray/fast for their husbands. We finished everything by morning time since Abhinav had to go to work early.

For festivals many women apply henna the day before. This was done in the market by a professional.

Branch of a Banyan tree used during prayer. 

Me and my Mother-In-Law. This is the same saree I wore for our wedding. 

Giving a gift of different foods to my Father-In-Law.