How To Use An Indian Toilet

xblues

不断的汲取知识是意见多么美好的事情呀。

If anyone has been to India, undoubtedly this is a question that we have all found ourselves asking. Luckily, while visiting a bar in Kovalum, Kerala, they had the decency to explain this for us layfolk. Now, I have been to India three times and this is still something of a mystery for me (note: I admittedly cruised around with a nice wad of toilet paper in my pocket or day pack). I hope that this happy little illustration can clarify the matter. Enjoy. (Also keep in mind that this is comparatively speaking a very nice bathroom compared to most that you encounter while backpacking around India...)

I really appreciate the string of comments that I get on this site. If you visit this link, please do leave comments as we all enjoy them and it gives us all perspective on a variety of views regarding this popular matter.

                               
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xblues

如果你也想回复，自己顺着这个链接去看。
如果有不理解的问题也可以顺着这个链接去看。

http://www.pbase.com/jtodhunter/indian_toilet

xblues

I'm from Miami FL and been to india recently.....i've tried indian toilet at my friends home for over a month... the experiance was initially strange....later i realized its very comfortable...you dont have to groan or moan pushing out cos the position is very natural...and using hand is obviousy more better way to clean...and I never really got any shit on my hand even once may be because you keep water splashing on....that keeps your hand clean all the time... never did i felt my cornhole so relaxed ever before.............. and feeling there after was really soothing unlike a paper wipe.

Once you give it a try, i guess you kind of get addicted to the soothing feeling....

xblues

To those people who don't think this is a good way to clean their asses I recommend you wait until you get hemorrhoids before passing judgement. Toilet paper is a huge waste of resources and rough on your cornhole, it also doesn't do a good job at removing dingleberries.

I set up an ass washing device similar to what they described here at my home (like a bidet) and have enjoyed a much healthier ass since.

xblues

How upsetting to read so many negative posts. I am an American who has been in India for 4 months this year. If you're going to travel to a different country you need to educate yourself about their customs and cultures.

I admit that I still struggle with the Indian toilet (mostly because I lack the strength in my leg muscles from sitting on my lazy American rear end for 30 years). My struggle does not have to do with the method of cleaning though. My best friend is Indian and he thinks that those of us who use paper to wipe are not being hygeinic. He asked how do we ensure that we are getting all fecal matter off if we aren't washing after each movement.

There is a reason why in the USA we have the term "skidmarks" about our guy's undies. Everyone needs to relax. You do things your way and let others do things their way. There is no wrong way... just different.

For those of you commenting on the water quality, think about big cities like New York and Chicago where they tell you that tap water is potable but not of drinking quality - Hello Brita anyone? It is the same in India. The water in homes is perfectly safe for washing with but must be purified before drinking. I brush my teeth with tap water here and I'm perfectly healthy.

And before you start saying "oh American - probably in a big name hotel" I am staying in Guest Houses and with my friends in their homes which most certainly is not a 5-star hotel. In order for a Westerner to get along in India, they must have an open mind and a good attitude.

xblues

OMG!!! LO - I just had the most amazing thought. I was reading through all these comms and adirup was talking about how the crappers are always filled with crap and stuff - and it made him throw up even. I was thinking, what if you step into one of these nasty bathrooms and you get naked from the waist down cuz even though it's poopy - you gotta go. And as you're about to squat over this thing - you SLIP! OMG. Can you imagine slipping in a room like that half naked??? With just a hose that isn't guaranteed to have water in it??

*faints*

Also, *GASP* persona_4g93, dude - you actually DIP the toilet tissue IN the TOILET BOWL WATER and then WIPE YOUR ASS with it??? I never heard something so gross in my life. That's even worse than this post. BUY SOME WIPES! They're like what - 0.99 cents?? They're sold EVERYWHERE in the west and they come in a RESEALABLE pack so they're portable! We ALL get that water is cleaner - NO ONE HERE IS DISPUTING THAT. What people are GROSSED out about - and rightly so - is that you are using your HAND. Damn the water! It's the hand we have a problem with and I know you all understand that. If you're in ANY western country - there's NO WAY you can justify putting your hand in your ass to wipe away your feces because there's too many products we make where you don't need to do that - EVER. And anyone who argues against that needs to just come out and admit that they just like putting the hand in their ass and playing with their anus.

And all you people touting EAT with your right hand - uhm... hello, just use your brain for a sec... anyone can EAT with one hand, but how many of you COOK with one hand??? *light bulb switches on* EX...ACTLY. None of you. If you can't do it - that can't either. Imagine how many cooks a restaurant would have to hire if everyone only used their right hand in the kitchen! No, those poopy water left hands are chopping, slicing, preparing, cooking, marinating, spicing, and otherwise handling your food as well as stirring all the pots, and using all the equipment.

Think about it - in the west, you get mad if you see your lil kids come out of the bathroom without washing their hands with soap and water - even if they just pee! And you're gonna tell me that you're satisfied with a WATER RINSE after someon'es been diggin in their ass with their hand?

And common sense, if you get POOP on your face - I would HOPE you'd wash your face with SOAP and water - not just water. In all the instances that were given - laundry, car, body, etc - water is not the most important ingredient. If you wash your clothes, car, or body with just water - you haven't done anything. Wash your nasty clothes with just water next time and see how clean they get and how fresh they smell. Wash your car with just water and see how clean it gets. Wash your body with just water - and see how clean it gets and how clean you smell. The key is - you need SOAP to kill the germs and achieve true cleanliness. Water alone doesn't cut it. That's why we buy detergent for our clothes, cleaning products for our car, and soaps for our bodies. NOT JUST WATER.

Water just rinses away the residual fecal matter so you don't have skid marks. And there's nothing wrong with that - but to use your hands to wipe it away??? I still say - I don't care if you squat or sit, wanna rinse or wipe - just USE WIPES and not bare hands - this is something India should adopt. Like yesterday. USE WIPES, NOT HANDS. It should be a mantra. USE WIPES. NOT HANDS.

This makes me leary, now of certain cultures. And to know that American born and raised Asians are still taught this thing - MAN - I wanna ask my asian friends if this is what they do, but I don't know if that would be seen as rude! Now I will always be conscious of which hand I'm shaking.

This makes me think of the poor Dalits....

xblues

YOU PEOPLE ARE SOOOO NASTY. I never met a westerner that washes their butthole with their hands - even in the shower. If so, you must be European because in the shower I usually have a TOWEL to clean my body from front to back! I don't know how I got to this page, but this whole thread sickens me. And really, I had NO IDEA that Indian people and other Asians actually wipe their butts with their hands and then may or may not have soap available to wash with after.

It's definitely a cultural thing. I mean, you can't help where you were born or how you were raised, but I thought that whole hand cleaning thing had already been played out. This just blows me away. I can understand how hygienic it is to use more than just paper. You guys who say just toilet paper isn't the best - are correct. However - you don't get poop all over your butt just because you do #2! The sphincter is quite an effective and efficient turd cutter and you can't even say with a straight face that a person who just uses TP smells like crap after they emerge from the bathroom - regardless of how pro water/hand you are. That's just a ridiculous thing to say. With TP you can still wipe until the paper is as clean as can be. And HELLO people do use moistened towelettes or babywipes these days. You should NEVER have to put your hands on or around your anus to get it clean. Honestly, that is beyond nasty. And how many of you would see your friend swiping his or her arse and flinging the poop down some whole - how many of you would eat a sandwich they made right after - even if they washed their hands with bleach?! I certainly would not - if I knew ANYONE that washed their asses with their raw hands - that person wouldn't EVER have to worry about me eating or drinking anything from them ever again. I can't eat at a person's house who doesn't wash their nasty hands after they get through rubbing all over their nasty pets, so I CERTAINLY wouldn't eat someone's poop cuisine!

You've effectively put me off wanting to go to India because I don't even want to witness anything like that. And WHO ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH puts their raw arse on a PUBLIC toilet - even in the WEST?! If you do - you're either retarded or your ass is made of germ resistant alien skin! I SQUAT in public and I NEVER take a crap in public unless it's a dire emergency like - I dunno - sudden onset uncontrollable malaria-like diarrhea!

xblues

The difference between western stereotypes and Indian stereotypes is that the Indians will accept the truth but the westerners are never gonna stop this and they will keep fuming at other communities about their shortcomings (according to them, in reality that may be more logical and scientific). The westerners won't eat with their hand for the sake of hygiene but would continue wiping their assholes.I am a microbiologist and don't belong to India anyway but the Indian system of keeping personal hygiene is proven to be better cause water is the universal solvent and has better cleaning ability, it is rather better than wiping as wiping do leave humans more prone to the microbial infections.Indians do wash up their hand ( the left one) after cleaning themselves.

xblues

The poeple you find defecating on the roads in india do so because they are poor and have no sanitation facilities....they have no choice but to do so...

Not every indians poops on the street, on the extreme poor poeple do so. The non-poor poeple always goto bathrooms (i cant believe i have to explain this to everyone)

This is how poeple use the indian toilet...

1. Take off your pants, and hang it on a hook, usually found on the back of the door.

2. squat and do your thing.

3. fill a mug with water, and using it, clean your behind with your hand.(left hand if your right-handed, and vice versa). Most indians toilets also have a flush, so press it when your done with the clean hand.

4. (*Most important step*) Get up, and goto the sink. Wash your hands with soap. Usually the soap id 'dettol' or stuff, which is basically meant for this purpose. its pretty effective in removing germs and bacteria. Once you wash your hands with that soap, your hands are quite clean and free from germs and bacteria.

strange analogy, but this is basically what surgoens do when they go in for suregey as well. before and after a surgery, they always wash their hands with some kind of anti-bacterial soap.

If indians were so dirty, they would be a truckload of more diseases and epidemics spreading than what it is right now. Also, this is the way many other nations take care of their poop business as well.

If there is one advice i can give a foreigner coming here apart from always drinking bottled mineral water, it would be to carry along with you some anti-bacterial liquid soap with you. thats it.

西澳海豚

其实～
用水洗屁屁，有经过实验证实，确实能更有效的清除"残留物"，
但是～除了印度之外，还没见过其他国家人民用"手"来处理这档子事。
倒是市面上已经出现了不少的电动冲水并用热风烘乾的电动马桶，
除了强调更清洁之外，还对痣疮有相当的帮助----
如果环境条件允许的话，我有时会用湿纸巾做第二次处理，
看看湿纸巾上的残留物，你就知道光用乾的卫生纸，并无法完全的清洁你的PP！

这档子事，也可以拿出来讨论-----

woody81

Is it feeling good when pp has been cleaned by water?

xblues

Try it yourself!

西澳海豚

Warm water feel better, it's true!

BTW you can do a spa on your axxhoxx for few minutes, it's feel really gooooooood!

Then wipe it clean as usual -----

ritaclin

interesting