I will throw this one out as I believe it is one of the main negative perceptions people have of India. Dirty India. Or the belief that India is one big garbage heap which breeds smells, disease, and totally unsanitary lifestyles. Now this is actually not something I came up with because I actually didn’t really understand it as well.
First, I will have to say that this issue is not something confined to India. I saw it in South America, Africa, the Middle East, and hell, there are pockets of it everywhere.
Second, as I stated before, I didn’t quite understand it myself, but one day I was glancing through one of India’s English newspapers, and I saw an article about how India placed in half of the top ten dirtiest city polls but yet the culture is based on cleanliness. This article was written by an Indian, so that is why the culture information. I am sure as a foreigner, it would have stated it as “duh, everybody knows that.” Well, the above is kind of my way of saying, “if any of this is wrong, blame it on the other writer.”
Okay, lets dive right in. I can’t speak for everybody, but in the Western societies, if you say “India, cleanliness on a scale of 1-10,” I am sure it would rank in the lower three’s to two’s. Say the same thing with Africa, South America, Central America, and Canada, the answer probably wouldn’t be too far off. That’s right I said Canada. Of course, most of this poll would be answered by people who hadn’t been there as most people have their own perspectives based on the media without having first hand knowledge. I would have to say though, the average tourist would actually say the same thing so in this case, sorry India, Africa, South America, not Canada. Having actually visited these places, I do have to say that the places that I and the majority of other tourists have visited, there definitely is an issue with trash.
So, India is a filthy place. Well, yes and no. Yes, when you go outside and walk around, there is pretty much a high visibility of trash. So the answer is yes? No. This is where the yo-yoing comes into play. If you just look at the trashy areas, that’s what you are going to see, but if you look at the other areas that are clean, they won’t be trashy. “Steve, you’re an idiot.” Now, wait. Let me clarify and also go back to that article I read and the part about the clean culture. The people are taught and believe that cleanliness is next to Godliness (that’s a saying, I know, but I am not sure from what religion, but it applies.) All the prior countries I have been, it is one eyeful of people cleaning, from sun up to sun down. Without filling up a page of examples, I will revert to the furthermost scale, and you can fill in the middle. There is an Indian, African, Latino, etc. living in a mud hut with a dirt floor. You know what happens probably five times a day? They sweep their floor. That’s right, they sweep their dirt floor, scoop up the debris and loose dirt and shoosh it away. A dirt floor. That my friend is not following a logical point of view, but what it does do is follow the context of “cleanliness is next to godliness.” The majority of people have the same standards of cleanliness. Clothes cleaning is another one. Find any water source at any time of the day, and you will have some matriarch of the family out there pounding clothes into oblivion. Again, another extreme example. Out in the sticks where water is very minimal. There are usually little, what I would call a mud/slime pond. I personally wouldn’t even clean the bottoms of my shoes with the stuff, but someone will be out there as well pounding the dirt out of their clothes because “cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
The Indian clean culture can easily be explained, (now that I have read the article.) The belief is that all those excretions that your body performs, is basically a vile and detestful subject. Were talking, sweat, snot, poop, pee, blood (menstruation), body odor, and I am guessing ear wax. For the rest of us, I would have to rate it all as being at the level as human shit. I think we see the rest of the stuff as slightly less evil, but to the Indians, it is all equivalent to human shit. Back when I was staying in Arambol, Goa at that little guesthouse, they had a seasonal helper there who was kind of like the fixer guy. Well, every morning he would come at 9am, and use our restrooms. My little $2 dollar cubicle room was this little addition right next to the bathrooms. There was no wall all the way to the ceiling, so the wall just ended about head high plus a foot. I could hear every little squeek coming out of those rooms. Well, every morning, he would come in and make these disgusting lung, throat, loogie compartment, cleansing, hacking, gagging, vomiting sounds. At first I thought he drank his first bottle of Tequila or something, but it really grossed me out (I do not gross out so easily.) Every morning it was the same thing. I thought perhaps he had a cold and was trying to force it out of himself. It got to the point where I was up and out of my room by 8:30am every morning just because I didn’t want to hear it. Well, once I read the article, I finally understood. The flem/mucous/loogie thing falls under the context of devils work like I stated before. Hacking up a loogie in Indian public would be equivalent to letting loose a juicy fart during a funeral. For this reason, people will spend a few minutes gagging themselves to make sure their whole throat/lungs/ esophagus, etc. is totally free and clear before they start their day. The same goes for the eating with the right hand thing and never ever touching anything that is to be eaten with your left (remember poo cleaning hand.) The same even goes with blowing your nose. Kleenex or not, you don’t do it indoors and especially not at the dinner table. Women are also affected specifically as during times of menstruation, they are banned from using communal water areas and temples. So basically, excretions=bad. Now, I am not sure about the man excretions ie. Porn shots, but I will assume that it is frowned upon at the dinner table as well.
The same kind of mentality can also be carried over to the household. In the Indian household, the kitchen is ground zero and is kept next to godliness. I also commented about the clothes cleaning as well as keeping the grounds clean. So, if the Indians are so clean, why is their country such a garbage pit. Well, that’s the other part of the Indian mentality. Once you get out of the above guidelines, stuff doesn’t matter. The rules don’t apply. Remember how I was saying how the people would sweep up their dirt floors. Well, once they have their little trash pile, they will pick it up walk to the edge of the house or to the street, and drop the trash on the ground. Same with the trash and waste that is removed from the house, on the ground in the street or in some corner of the neighborhood. The belief being that those areas don’t matter. Your home matters, but outside of that, its fine to have trash stacked to your neck. And that is why my friends, you see a lot of trash but you don’t understand how it can be such a clean society. As tourists, we actually don’t get a chance to see into the every day life. Sure we see tourist places and mocked up areas, but in reality they are nothing of what real life is. If you spent most of your time in an Indian household, you would probably think they are some sort of clean freaks. Also, while walking around, it is infuriating to watch as locals unwrap their whatever, and just throw their wrapper on the ground. Again, it’s being dropped where it’s supposed to be, the not in the home or business area. You wouldn’t see that wrapper being dropped in someone’s home or business as those areas are to be kept next to godliness. You get it now. Pretty cool huh.
Sure, there are other fairly significant reasons such as minimal waste management resources, dynamic manufacturing growth, the refuse is food for animals, low caste people will have a chance to pick through the trash for anything of value, low education about the environment, and of course some people who know better but just are lazy, but in the general context of a society, that is why India is so dirty, but is a super clean culture.
First, I will have to say that this issue is not something confined to India. I saw it in South America, Africa, the Middle East, and hell, there are pockets of it everywhere.
Second, as I stated before, I didn’t quite understand it myself, but one day I was glancing through one of India’s English newspapers, and I saw an article about how India placed in half of the top ten dirtiest city polls but yet the culture is based on cleanliness. This article was written by an Indian, so that is why the culture information. I am sure as a foreigner, it would have stated it as “duh, everybody knows that.” Well, the above is kind of my way of saying, “if any of this is wrong, blame it on the other writer.”
Okay, lets dive right in. I can’t speak for everybody, but in the Western societies, if you say “India, cleanliness on a scale of 1-10,” I am sure it would rank in the lower three’s to two’s. Say the same thing with Africa, South America, Central America, and Canada, the answer probably wouldn’t be too far off. That’s right I said Canada. Of course, most of this poll would be answered by people who hadn’t been there as most people have their own perspectives based on the media without having first hand knowledge. I would have to say though, the average tourist would actually say the same thing so in this case, sorry India, Africa, South America, not Canada. Having actually visited these places, I do have to say that the places that I and the majority of other tourists have visited, there definitely is an issue with trash.
So, India is a filthy place. Well, yes and no. Yes, when you go outside and walk around, there is pretty much a high visibility of trash. So the answer is yes? No. This is where the yo-yoing comes into play. If you just look at the trashy areas, that’s what you are going to see, but if you look at the other areas that are clean, they won’t be trashy. “Steve, you’re an idiot.” Now, wait. Let me clarify and also go back to that article I read and the part about the clean culture. The people are taught and believe that cleanliness is next to Godliness (that’s a saying, I know, but I am not sure from what religion, but it applies.) All the prior countries I have been, it is one eyeful of people cleaning, from sun up to sun down. Without filling up a page of examples, I will revert to the furthermost scale, and you can fill in the middle. There is an Indian, African, Latino, etc. living in a mud hut with a dirt floor. You know what happens probably five times a day? They sweep their floor. That’s right, they sweep their dirt floor, scoop up the debris and loose dirt and shoosh it away. A dirt floor. That my friend is not following a logical point of view, but what it does do is follow the context of “cleanliness is next to godliness.” The majority of people have the same standards of cleanliness. Clothes cleaning is another one. Find any water source at any time of the day, and you will have some matriarch of the family out there pounding clothes into oblivion. Again, another extreme example. Out in the sticks where water is very minimal. There are usually little, what I would call a mud/slime pond. I personally wouldn’t even clean the bottoms of my shoes with the stuff, but someone will be out there as well pounding the dirt out of their clothes because “cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
The Indian clean culture can easily be explained, (now that I have read the article.) The belief is that all those excretions that your body performs, is basically a vile and detestful subject. Were talking, sweat, snot, poop, pee, blood (menstruation), body odor, and I am guessing ear wax. For the rest of us, I would have to rate it all as being at the level as human shit. I think we see the rest of the stuff as slightly less evil, but to the Indians, it is all equivalent to human shit. Back when I was staying in Arambol, Goa at that little guesthouse, they had a seasonal helper there who was kind of like the fixer guy. Well, every morning he would come at 9am, and use our restrooms. My little $2 dollar cubicle room was this little addition right next to the bathrooms. There was no wall all the way to the ceiling, so the wall just ended about head high plus a foot. I could hear every little squeek coming out of those rooms. Well, every morning, he would come in and make these disgusting lung, throat, loogie compartment, cleansing, hacking, gagging, vomiting sounds. At first I thought he drank his first bottle of Tequila or something, but it really grossed me out (I do not gross out so easily.) Every morning it was the same thing. I thought perhaps he had a cold and was trying to force it out of himself. It got to the point where I was up and out of my room by 8:30am every morning just because I didn’t want to hear it. Well, once I read the article, I finally understood. The flem/mucous/loogie thing falls under the context of devils work like I stated before. Hacking up a loogie in Indian public would be equivalent to letting loose a juicy fart during a funeral. For this reason, people will spend a few minutes gagging themselves to make sure their whole throat/lungs/ esophagus, etc. is totally free and clear before they start their day. The same goes for the eating with the right hand thing and never ever touching anything that is to be eaten with your left (remember poo cleaning hand.) The same even goes with blowing your nose. Kleenex or not, you don’t do it indoors and especially not at the dinner table. Women are also affected specifically as during times of menstruation, they are banned from using communal water areas and temples. So basically, excretions=bad. Now, I am not sure about the man excretions ie. Porn shots, but I will assume that it is frowned upon at the dinner table as well.
The same kind of mentality can also be carried over to the household. In the Indian household, the kitchen is ground zero and is kept next to godliness. I also commented about the clothes cleaning as well as keeping the grounds clean. So, if the Indians are so clean, why is their country such a garbage pit. Well, that’s the other part of the Indian mentality. Once you get out of the above guidelines, stuff doesn’t matter. The rules don’t apply. Remember how I was saying how the people would sweep up their dirt floors. Well, once they have their little trash pile, they will pick it up walk to the edge of the house or to the street, and drop the trash on the ground. Same with the trash and waste that is removed from the house, on the ground in the street or in some corner of the neighborhood. The belief being that those areas don’t matter. Your home matters, but outside of that, its fine to have trash stacked to your neck. And that is why my friends, you see a lot of trash but you don’t understand how it can be such a clean society. As tourists, we actually don’t get a chance to see into the every day life. Sure we see tourist places and mocked up areas, but in reality they are nothing of what real life is. If you spent most of your time in an Indian household, you would probably think they are some sort of clean freaks. Also, while walking around, it is infuriating to watch as locals unwrap their whatever, and just throw their wrapper on the ground. Again, it’s being dropped where it’s supposed to be, the not in the home or business area. You wouldn’t see that wrapper being dropped in someone’s home or business as those areas are to be kept next to godliness. You get it now. Pretty cool huh.
Sure, there are other fairly significant reasons such as minimal waste management resources, dynamic manufacturing growth, the refuse is food for animals, low caste people will have a chance to pick through the trash for anything of value, low education about the environment, and of course some people who know better but just are lazy, but in the general context of a society, that is why India is so dirty, but is a super clean culture.
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