Of restrooms

Warning: The post below may not be upto your taste. So please refrain from readinig further if you are uncomfortable with these kind of discussions.

Somebody recently said I observe things too apart from just observing human behavior, and hence the post. I know it’s a very disgusting topic but then off late I have been reading many famous bloggies and if people like amit verma and greatbong can write, why can’t I?

Let’s start this with a nice kiddo joke. Somehow I always felt why are kids so obsessed with restroom kind of jokes, but its good to see the genuine laughter they have after the joke. So here it goes, it’s a marathi joke. “Pata hai Japanese eat ‘Soo Shee’”. Hahhahhahah. I don’t know, people may raise eyebrows saying “was that a joke?”, but I too laughed a lot when I first heard this.

Earlier I thought I will do a detailed analysis of restrooms in India and US , pros and cons and analyze about how in India you really don’t have to bother about a restroom in the middle of a jungle but here in US you have to, but then, I am not doing a PhD on restrooms. So here are a few restrooms worth mentioning.

Firstly the ones in the NITK hostels. It was stinking would be an understatement. You can imagine what happens to the stink if people are fed gobhi 10 times in 14 meals a week. But as we had no other option, chalo woh bhi chalta hai. I did have a picture with me with a toilet broom in one hand mixed with the picture of a dirty pot. That was a good picture to make people run away from my room. But sadly that picture is lost.

Continuing further, I would mention the Sultan Battery toilet in Mangalore. When I had gone, it was full to the brim. I ran out immediately. Wonder how did the cleaner go about it later. And more so, how could it be so full until multiple people went to the same dirty one. Eeeiks.

Next is not a toilet in particular but an action which me n my friends did. We had a handicam and were making a movie (good old college days kind of) and we went to a posh rooftop restaurant called Kadal in Mangalore. There we shot the toilet which was empty(thankfully, and yes, dont get any wierd ideas about what we shot, it was plain tiles and gadgets and no human) and then we were showing it to other friends in the dining table. All shrieked. I don’t know I get a great pleasure in talking this kind of dirty in dining table and like the way people literally shriek and run away.

Mangalore won’t be complete without mentioning this special restroom in Surathkal College ka shiva temple restroom. It’s behind the temple which is on a rock, there is this cemented Indian style pot which is entirely open on all sides. Nobody uses it and don’t think anybody used it ever. Makes me wonder, was it made for Gods? Kudos to the person who made it and especially the location he chose for that.

Now moving to Bangalore, the weirdest restroom is in the heart of the city, MG-Residency road crossing. Near the bus stand, opposite Bangalore Central. Well this was courtesy Sudha Murthy and her foundation desperate in making Bangalore a cleaner place. Thanks Mrs Murthy for such a thrilling experience. As can be expected, its half Americanized and half Indian. Anybody would think it’s the best of both worlds. But no, it’s the worst of both. Generally in India, people would prefer peeing with wall on 3 sides. But this one is ulta. It faces the road and the heavy traffic of Residency road and has wall end at shoulder height, so people on the road can actually see who is inside. To add to the nightmare, instead of having it dry, they have a constant flow of water. It feels like u r on a river. Readers are left to imagine what you would feel like there.

Lastly I would like to mention about the portable restrooms of US. Should I say I had the privilege of bumping into one during my South padre trip last weekend. Anyway, that is a unique way of having absolutely no smell in a waterless restroom. They have some chemicals below which constantly degrades anything that falls in there and there is strong disinfectant smell. So you really don’t feel smelly there ever.

Well that ends my analysis sufficient for ME final project. If you do want an MS thesis or a PhD, do let me know. :)