Toilet Paper

Disclaimer: the following is a narrative of what the author witnessed in person, consists of explicit material and is not meant for the weak hearted. Only the strong hearted may proceed, and that too at their own peril.

She must've been around six years, seven at max. An angelic, cherubic faces and bright eyes, accompanied by dirty, unwashed hair, one short shirt on her torso, and no underwear is what made up all of her. Her supposed-to-be-rosy-but-were-muddy-brown cheeks were caked with a fine line of dust, and if you looked carefully, you could see a few tear-stains too. She was chasing a flying piece of paper that the wind had caught, oblivious to the world around her including passer-by's staring at her semi-nudity. Suddenly, she stopped mid-run and squatted down on the ground, just about two feet away from where my car was parked, and to my absolute horror, started shitting!

Ya. I know.

I was appalled too. I mean here we were, making a serious effort not to the litter the roads, trying to push India to really become Incredible India, and there she was, shitting right in the middle of the road!! Whereas first I was going to approach her to give her a sandwich that was left over in my Tiffin, I now approached her with the self-righteous, moral-policing intent of admonishing her for the odious task that she was still performing. Before I could reach her, she got up. Apparently, she was done. She started walking, and I nearly fainted of disgust. She wasn't going to even clean herself! What a filthy creature. And to imagine, my heart went out to her initially. Totally repulsed by her actions, I gave up the intent of even going near her, when I saw her squat again. This time, she didn't shit. Instead, she picked a handful of medium-sized stones, quickly sorted through them, chose one, and wiped (rather scraped) her bum with it. Then she scraped her hand with the same stone, tossed it aside, and ran off, presumably finding something else to play with. I now wonder how she decided which stone would hurt less than the other.

I was still appalled, but this time at myself and my alacritous condemnation of her and her actions. Hindsight made me realize that she had no other option.

None.

Nada.

Zip.

I mean if she really wants to shit, where will she? In the public toilet that charges as much as her one-time meal would cost? (The same ones that you can smell miles off.) Wouldn't she rather use that money to buy another meal for herself? Can you imagine how much a stone hurts in one of the most sensitive places of the anatomy?

We want Incredible India, India that will go places and take us with her. But conveniently overlook the fact that today's India is a coin with two sides. One side shines with all its might, boasting of healthy economic growth, an emerging market, The India Inc: alluring the world to come and bask in its glory. The other side is rusted to a degree far greater than the other side shines. It desperately tries to hide the millions that can't be fed or housed, or even get accounted as citizens. In contrast to this rust, the shine fades into nothingness.

This country has a long way to go in becoming what it aims to become. And so do its people, especially the self-righteous, moral-policing fools who have a home to live in, a toilet to shit in, and of course smooth toilet paper to wipe their bum with afterward. A complete change in the attitude is required, and unless that happens, India will continue to be what it is, and stay where it is.

Until next time…