Squat If You Please

I am just back from the International Yoga Conference in Beijing, and if you were to ask me what’s the best thing about China, then undoubtedly it has to be their loos. The fact that they still use the Asian pot and squat daily with pride in their private and public bathrooms (at airports, restaurants, malls) is not just endearing but tells you everything you need to know about the country and its people.

For starters, they take their health seriously. Not only do they stick to their own cuisine but they will tell you that their food is diverse. Shanghai eats differently from Beijing, Beijing from Guangzhou and so on. They may struggle with English but never bother with the forks and knives. The Chinese stick to chopsticks, placing their food perfectly into their mouths, encouraging you to do the same. Contrast this with scenes at any high-end restaurant back home of people str­uggling to eat a masala dosa or aloo paratha with fork and knife.

In our airports/ malls, you often have to go to the darkest corner to find an leaky Indian toilet. For us, refinement has become aligned to how much we have moved away from traditional ways. Eating with hands is unbecoming, as is fully squatting on the toilet. Even if it gives us a bloated stomach, squeezes our gut in a really uncomfortable position or lasts interminably due to faecal stagnation we continue to sit, not squat.

As Indian government goes all gung-ho about toilets, it should also advocate the return of the Indian loo. If rural India has no toilets, then urban India is struggling with ibs, thanks to improper ones.