Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?

BBC ^ | 6/16/2014

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Anyone wonder why their wedding bands are on their right hand?

[lormand]

I went to India last year and as the plane descended, I saw the largest slum I had ever laid my eyes on. Before the plan touched down, I wanted to turn back. Weirdest place on earth.

[southern rock]

In our church, the "H" family has 12 children, the "S" family has 11 children, the other "S" family has 12 children (they cheated, triplets were thrown in), the "B" family has 12 children, and numerous other families have 8 or 9 children. They come from working to professional class, and I would dare you to tell them they are "breeding like rabbits."

But it is.

[MNnice]

“See, this is why we can’t have nice things.”

[Sequoyah101]

Just about every place that kicked the brits out is worse for it based on what I have seen in my extensive travels.

Everywhere but here in the US but give it time. We’re working on it.

[cripplecreek]

Just me and the dogs here and they don’t complain much.

[miss marmelstein]

There is much I admire about Indian culture - and there’s no doubt that young Indian woman can be very beautiful. Their cuisine is amazing. It’s sad to read these types of articles because I’ve always wanted to visit India. I’ve been told to avoid the big cities and go to the hill towns.

[Carriage Hill]

So they say...

[miss marmelstein]

Can you go into more depth about your experience? I hear so many different things about India.

[jocon307]

Asking the important questions!

[kearnyirish2]

“I booked a room at what was ostensibly a chain hotel owned by one of our Indian friends. It was an absolutely shocking experience...I opened the hotel door, saw the state of the room, turned on my heel and checked out. Of course, Srini at the front desk frowned and muttered something about a ‘minimum charge.’ I told him my credit card company would most assuredly take my side and that he could get stuffed.”

After an experience last year, I won’t book a room IN CANADA unless it is run by “Euro-Canadians”; using large chains is no protection against Third World nonsense. The place wasn’t dirty; they just advertized WiFi that was barely working (and told me it was my PC until I saw other guests, laptops in hand, confronting the manager), the ice machine “didn’t work” (but you could BUY ICE at the front desk), and they wouldn’t open the pool at the scheduled time until enough guests were badgering them.

Absolutely the cheapest dirtbags you could imagine; you expect more when you lay out money for a place. To top it all of, there was a large handwritten sign at the free continental breakfast (for which they were VERY slow to refill anything) warning that there would be a charge for any food thrown away. Americans better get used to this if they want anything that resembles our former way of life; we are importing India’s “merchant caste”, and they are shameless.

[HereInTheHeartland]

Wow amazing pictures. Looks like some scene from hell.

[Vermont Lt]

I am in a nice hotel in Dallas. I wonder if they would respect my “culture” of strolling out onto their manicured lawn and taking a squat?

[Carriage Hill]

Takes your breath away, literally, doesn’t it? Phew.

[Vermont Lt]

If you wonder wher the next “Spanish Flu” bug is going to sprout—here is your Petri dish. Every few thousand years the human race gets an enema. The last one was the Spanish Flu. Before that the Black Death.

The next one will step up is game and wipe out a billion or so.

[kearnyirish2]

“Just about every place that kicked the brits out is worse for it based on what I have seen in my extensive travels. Everywhere but here in the US but give it time. We’re working on it.”

There’s always Ireland!

[Carl Vehse]

Why do millions of Indians defecate in the open?"

Buried in the article is the answer: "Apart from poverty and lack of lavatories, one of the reasons often cited to explain open defecation in India is the ingrained cultural norm making the practice socially accepted in some parts of the society."

It is part of the culture; eliminating public defecation will require eliminating that defective and primitive culture. Despite the hype at the end of the article, eliminating such a defecating and defective culture will require efforts spanning generations, not simply a decade.

[Dr. Sivana]

What do you mean “But it is”?

[Vigilanteman]

Yes and no. India's population density (981/sq mile) isn't all that different from Japan (870/sq mile). When coupled with the fact that 75% of Japan's land area is mountain and forest and India has more arable land that the continental United States (with the added advantage that even more of it being suitable for double or even triple cropping), you see that it is less of a population problem than a standards problem.

Japan makes wise use of their land, doesn't allow livestock to roam the streets and would be appalled by the standards (or lack thereof) of sanitation in India.

A boss of mine (Japanese) from a former life told me that when he did business in India, he'd venture outside of the hotel only long enough to get to and from the place of business. He felt more comfortable exploring Indonesia which, while densely populated, also had basic standards of sanitation.

[PLMerite]

“I took a leak in the yard this morning because I could.”

Which section of Detroit do you live in? :)