Coimbatore, Nov. 19: Two movies made it to the headlines for the same reason - for throwing light on a burning social problem of having / not having a toilet at home. Our own “Joker” and “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” highlighted the still widely prevalent system of open defecation and the social stigma behind having a toilet in the house.
Though having to relieve oneself is a health / hygiene /sanitation associated factor, it has taken on a social hue in the country. And, that is why achieving an open-defecation free India is not only in the hands of the Government but depends on reformed social thought, which the films highlighted.
Constructing toilets in adequate numbers is happening at the household as well as the public level. At the Government end this is happening under the aegis of various schemes, including the Swachh Bharat Mission. There are several NGOs, corporates and individuals contributing towards this cause. But what does a room with a hole mean to the inhabitants of the house, who are culturally and socially bound by false notions of hygiene.
While the urban South can pride itself on the fact that it is open defecation free to a great extent, there is the rural South that can still contend itself on a par with some States in the North. Different strategies that range from cajoling to coercion and shaming to rewarding have not been able to change the mindset of people to have and use toilets.
Closer home, in an urban centre such as Coimbatore, we have places earmarked for open defecation. These places largely cater to the homeless who have made makeshift homes along the railway tracks, under flyovers, along waterbeds and in open spaces on the city outskirts. And, a worse tragedy is that women and men who live in chawl-type residences and have to share a toilet / bathroom with a large number of neighbours in certain areas prefer to defecate in the open as the probability to use a clean toilet is almost nil.
There are those who use the public toilets and bathrooms on an everyday basis. The upkeep of these is the equal responsibility of the user and the Administration. There are those who urinate outside the urinal, spit on the walls, and dirty the premises to such an extent that the term ‘public toilet’ evokes a dirty, smelly image.
While this is the case inside the city, the plight of the road traveller is even more pathetic. With lack of proper rest bays along national and state highways, road travel is a nightmare, especially for women. Men still get to answer nature’s call in the open, but women are left to suffer a filled bladder for hundreds of kilometres.
With the occasional motels and petrol bunks that dot the highways too failing to provide clean toilets most of the time, the regular women travellers have invented ingenious ways to relieve themselves, a modified way of open defecation.
It does not make a difference whether you are a middle-class woman, travelling in a Government inter-State bus or a well-to-do one travelling in a luxury car. The facilities that you get on the road are one and the same, unless you choose to stop by a star-hotel to use the ‘washroom’, provided the front office manager allows you to.
The World Toilet Day on November 19 is a good reminder that the Government or corporate can only provide a toilet, but ensuring that it is used cleanly is the responsibility of each user. When this is not ensured, it would only encourage more open defecation and the very presence of a toilet is wasted.
Though having to relieve oneself is a health / hygiene /sanitation associated factor, it has taken on a social hue in the country. And, that is why achieving an open-defecation free India is not only in the hands of the Government but depends on reformed social thought, which the films highlighted.
Constructing toilets in adequate numbers is happening at the household as well as the public level. At the Government end this is happening under the aegis of various schemes, including the Swachh Bharat Mission. There are several NGOs, corporates and individuals contributing towards this cause. But what does a room with a hole mean to the inhabitants of the house, who are culturally and socially bound by false notions of hygiene.
While the urban South can pride itself on the fact that it is open defecation free to a great extent, there is the rural South that can still contend itself on a par with some States in the North. Different strategies that range from cajoling to coercion and shaming to rewarding have not been able to change the mindset of people to have and use toilets.
Closer home, in an urban centre such as Coimbatore, we have places earmarked for open defecation. These places largely cater to the homeless who have made makeshift homes along the railway tracks, under flyovers, along waterbeds and in open spaces on the city outskirts. And, a worse tragedy is that women and men who live in chawl-type residences and have to share a toilet / bathroom with a large number of neighbours in certain areas prefer to defecate in the open as the probability to use a clean toilet is almost nil.
There are those who use the public toilets and bathrooms on an everyday basis. The upkeep of these is the equal responsibility of the user and the Administration. There are those who urinate outside the urinal, spit on the walls, and dirty the premises to such an extent that the term ‘public toilet’ evokes a dirty, smelly image.
While this is the case inside the city, the plight of the road traveller is even more pathetic. With lack of proper rest bays along national and state highways, road travel is a nightmare, especially for women. Men still get to answer nature’s call in the open, but women are left to suffer a filled bladder for hundreds of kilometres.
With the occasional motels and petrol bunks that dot the highways too failing to provide clean toilets most of the time, the regular women travellers have invented ingenious ways to relieve themselves, a modified way of open defecation.
It does not make a difference whether you are a middle-class woman, travelling in a Government inter-State bus or a well-to-do one travelling in a luxury car. The facilities that you get on the road are one and the same, unless you choose to stop by a star-hotel to use the ‘washroom’, provided the front office manager allows you to.
The World Toilet Day on November 19 is a good reminder that the Government or corporate can only provide a toilet, but ensuring that it is used cleanly is the responsibility of each user. When this is not ensured, it would only encourage more open defecation and the very presence of a toilet is wasted.