Public Utilities

It is a running joke between me and some of my friends that India basically a giant version of one of things bellow:

1) Trash bin. There is no such thing as a trash bin in India it seems. Rather trash is thrown anywhere and everywhere. It is too bad. Some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen was marred by litter everywhere. For example, when the EAP group did a trip to Yamunotri, we climbed to the foothills of one of the holiest rivers in India and found its source. As I was looking at the mountains around me, I saw a bunch of trash right by the base of what was otherwise a gorgeous waterfall. But it is like that all over India. On a train ride, you go by some of the poorer houses and you see little ponds filled with trash.

2) Toilet. It is a common site for a man to be peeing on the side of the road. Heck, it is a common site for a man to be peeing on the road itself. In fact, the more I think about it, it is common to see people peeing just about anywhere at anytime. The smell of urine is something I have just come to terms with. Kids even poo pretty much anywhere (although usually they at least try to aim for the gutter). But this next story made even my new calloused senses go, "Really?"

This weekend, I went to Varanasi. Varanasi is a holy Hindu town situated on the banks of the Ganges. It is a holy place for people to die, be cremated, and then have their ashes spread in the river. I went and saw the burning ghats, where they take their dead and cremate them. It was rather surreal to see dead bodies be burned. I mean I was probably at one point like 10 feet from where I could see the fat dripping off of a body being cremated. Kinda weird for me, not gonna lie. But honestly, after being here for a three months now, Varanasi seemed less shocking then I though it would. Once you get used to India, seeing weird things seems like part of the package. But the train ride was different experience.

I usually take a sleeper class train. This means that i have a smallish bed put in a compartment with 8 other people. I have never had any problems with it (and I still don't... kind of) but this train ride shocked even my new senses if only because it was a little to close to home. Me and a friend are just casually playing card when the girl who is with her family stands up and pees all of herself and the floor. You heard it, right in the middle of the cabin where we sit and sleep. But the real shocker was that it happened just so non-chalantly. Furthermore, the surrounding family just kept on doing what they were doing. They cleaned her daughter but not so much the pee... It just puddled there and stayed there. Well actually I guess it rolled around on the floor a little as the train started, stopped and moved. They just kept their sandals (notice: sandals, not shoes) in the puddle and talked. This was a new one for me, especially since I have thrown my bags on sleep train floors, one of my friends slept on such floors, and I have walked on the floor in my own bare feet. Eeeewwww....

Moral of this story: Never lick, smell, place bags on, thoroughly examine, or otherwise touch any public floor in India.