PEE-KABOO

"Enough is enough, will you pee now or you chose not to travel with us further"- was my mother shouting at me. Lush green grass, silence and abandoned place, just right to pee when you were travelling 24X7 on a marathon tour with the popular tour operators. More than 2 decades ago, peeing in public was an art. The older ladies educated me how they could cover my butt with their hanging pieces of sari and I could pee in peace. Peace? Hell. I peed in piece. Playing peekaboo with few pairs of eyes that pretended not to see me and few mosquitoes that buzzed around.

I am that bloody Indian with 5 rooms 4 toilets in my home today, yet dreads those memory lane journeys of pee-kaboo, where my bladder often yelled for it's respectful urinal rights, at me. Those, night bus journeys were a nightmare. Jungles as open toilets, singing loudly was only option if the bladder shouted the hell out of holding the pee for long hours. Using a public toilet was a bane. The very spell of the filthy look, feces slathered floor, and scent, knocked the saner in me and would often make me flee for my life into the sky for the holy urinals and rest in pee. 

In the country side, there is always an uncle that walks a mile every morning with a tumbler of water in hand. Perhaps the women in the family had the royal chance to use the nearby surroundings for the rituals. As for little Babli, she too learnt the royal art. The cat walk with a tumbler of water. The older aunties of babli, planned their peeing picnic. It was their time for "kitty-pee-party". Discuss life's problems over a pee time. But Babli  despairingly, watched the surroundings reeking filthy feces. Something called a latrine was a luxury. They were meant for the upper class just like those in cities who own a swimming pool inside a house, whereas folks  far away in country side often deprived of mere water line in their "so called" homes. 

Oh holy lord of urinals! The king of S.A gifted his daughter a royal toilet made of pure gold.  Our folks in India  are those fortunate enough to see stars in the sky while they defecate. 

Babli, felt miserable day by day. The behooving walk to the open pee stations, turned agonizing. Her mind bubbled, why olden  days culture included defecation in open and keep house clean. World grew faster, man stood up to a mouse click, yet not a toilet revolution. Open defecation is no more an art. It's the dirty truth of the country that the leaders who come to Babli's village with white clothing, folded hands once  a year, never looked back for a peek into sanitary issues. They brought laptops to Babli's school in order to educate and develop the youth. You want to smirk at this. Health is wealth is that proverb the teacher only writes on the school board each morning. And that leaves Babli wondering why she cant pee in peace, or play in a place without human feces or the aura of the urinals.  How long could she hold her pee at her school too, that had no toilets? Till she toiled to find a safe surrounding or a lone latrine with nearly collapsing walls and no sings of water in there for ages?

Nearly half  of India's population have no toilets. Nearly half have cellphones though. Smart hygiene faults.

Only 46.9% of the 246.6million households have lavatories. 49.8% defecate in the open. Remaining 3.2% use public toilets.  A cultural taboo of decades ago, has never seen a up gradation even today with the world in our palm. People wash their clothes in river/ponds/lakes in the country side. Pee at one end, bathe at other. The cities are worst. With no ponds, folks turn to walls, pits around municipality trash bins and so on. The women are hit most, off their dignity and safety. A summit in Delhi highlighted statistics that just 15% of rural people have access to toilet. 

For women, dignity and safety in hands with hygiene finds priority. This piece of news when reported globally, where a lady denied stepping into her husbands house in rural India, for lack of toilet, perhaps rang a bell in the society to some extent.

The Prime Minister of India has lead the revolution called "swach bharath" where cleanliness, hygiene is going to be utmost priority. Domex has taken an extra ordinary revolutionary step towards health and hygiene of folks. More in the rural India.

You are just a click away towards doing your bit for your society, your women folks, through Domex Toilet Academy. http://www.domex.in/.  

Help build healthier India, help woman, girls and children like babli find their dignity in safety.