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Saturday, October 18, 2008

Dirty Indians

Why is it that Indian shops and restaurants pay such scant regard to hygiene?
Our homes are fine. Our bathrooms at home, though always wet, is quite neat and clean. But what happens to us in public? Why are our public conveniences so filthy? Why do we behave like stray dogs, pissing and shitting as we please?
Let's blame the folks who run the supermarkets, stores and restaurants for not cleaning up after their clients. However, the painful truth is that those who use it have poor hygiene and no concern for the person using the toilet after them.
For example, the Lulu Hypermarket here, offers the best deals on just about everything. Except the loos. Given that it's a hypermarket, one would expect them not to scrounge on toilet rolls, washing fluid and hand wash. Given that they have a footfall of anything between 5000-12,000 a day, one would also expect them to employ a full time washroom attendant.
But Lulu easily has one of the filthiest washrooms in the city. One of the main reasons I don't patronise the place.
The other contenders for dirtiest loos all happen to be Indian supermarkets or restaurants.
Yesterday, we went to Vasantha Bhavan here. Excellent vadais and pongals. And a loo that could easily have emptied our stomach of all the delicacies.
When we complained -- and O had to use the bathroom urgently -- the manager had it cleaned immediately. He then told us that they do keep cleaning it, but people just seem to mess it up so badly.
Would these people leave their home bathrooms in that state? Unflushed, tissues all over the place, wet toilet seats? Would they not make an attempt to clean it up for the sake of their family? Do they have to turn this selfish once outside their homes?
Amongst the southern states, it's worst in TN. Not only do people think it's ok to pee and crap where they please, they think loos are meant to be dirty. I don't know about AP, but I do know that in Kerala and Karnataka, public conveniences are not such a nightmare.
Here, joints visited by Arabs and Indians have the worst hygiene. The Filipinos and others from the Far East, keep their washrooms clean. The westerners again keep it dry and neat. Even the bars that pissed drunk westerners go to, have cleans loos. So it's rather embarrassing that a dirty loo would immediately translate into one used by us.
I am so angry. So embarrassed.
When I see people leave the loo in an unusable state, I feel like dragging them back in and forcing them to clean it up with their bare hands! Disgusting idiots.

5 comments:

Teesu (very very Indian, very very good) said...

Ugh indeed. People need public speeches and awareness on this one. No doubt.

Deeps said...

hey!you should come to Delhi then..despite having enough 'sulabh shauchaalay's(clean ones,mind you),people here think peeing and pooping in roads and other open air spaces is a status symbol...somehow they cant relieve themselves fully well!!
Is Vasantha Bhavan the same place where we went when I was there last?

umm oviya said...

no, that was aryaas. and no, loos are no better there. not even in caravan bukhara, considered slightly more upmarket.

Anonymous said...

Disgusting, I agree. And it makes me so ashamed and embarrassed. Even the Indian Embassy loo in Birmingham is disgusting - it isnt much of an office, in any case, but you can smell the loo from way off. :( I dont know what the London one is like... but going by precedent, it's probably just as unmentionable.

umm oviya said...

in the UK?! even the 2nd or 3rd generation continues this way. and yes, what's the piss smell that goes will all indian governmental buildings?