55 - A MESSAGE TO THE MODI

It would be a grass roots eye opener for the 'great' Modi to please visit CST, disguised as a woman.  And then he must visit the ladies' toilet.  For Rs.5/ I think that the caretaker there earns more than even the platform ticket sales.

Women of all classes and creeds and ages,  are desperately crowding into the dirty and derelict toilets at the CST.  The narrow entrance is blocked by the woman in charge, who demands her money before you can enter furthur.  The stench drowns your senses and the flooded and cracked floor tiles are a danger that one has to overcome and walk inwards.  Three doors, so soiled that I flinched to even touch one when I managed to wait until it was my 'turn' to use the toilet.

The pushing and squeezing between the sweaty female bodies is not a pleasant experience at all.  The toilet doors are cracked and two have no inner latches.  One toilet was flooded.  The one I entered, was in such a sorry state of disrepair and uncleanness, that if my need was not so urgent, then I would never have entered such a disgustingly unhygienic 'toilet'.

That is one of the reasons that I enjoy visiting any mall.  At least the toilet facilities are decent and clean.  There is an attendant and there are washbasins and toilet paper and  clean clean toilets.

Recently I had to go to Dadar to travel by the Shivneri, and the ladies' toilet at the bus stand is usable for rupees five.  It is a very narrow squeeze and the window slats are in disrepair, but the steel toilet was clean.  And then I visited the toilet at the Pune depot of the same bus service, and that was so so unusable.  Charges were rupees five, but the entire inner area was flooded in 2 inches of unclean water .......and only one of the three enclosures was usable.  There was no door latch and it was dirty and smelly. Yuck, yuck and yuck.

If you are shopping at Crawford Market, after walking through the numerous crowded lanes, you feel thirsty, and visit any restaurant to quench your thirst, but you will not be able to use a toilet, because they say that they have none.  Only one restaurant has  a loo for customers but access is restricted for one, only after you have placed your order, because people tend to enter, use the loo and leave.  The  main door of the hotel has the message,  washroom is only for authentic customers.

So many shops all over Mumbai, with men and women working there, so many traffic constables working on the roads, so many taxi drivers all over the place,  where do they manage to relieve themselves?

There is a very posh restaurant near my house, where rich people arrive in expensive cars to eat there.  The drivers wait in the car and very often relieve themselves behind the parked car.  It is so embarrassing to be walking along the narrow road and then realize that some fellow is urinating close to the path that I am using.

Mr. Modi,  your endeavour to encourage the Indian public to use toilets and not defecate and urinate in open spaces is very correct but there need to be more free public toilets all over India.  There are whole families living on footpaths and on the beach in Mumbai and they defecate on plastic bags and on paper and put it into the drains near their haunts, by lifting the cover.  So if anyone is walking along a footpath where the draincover has a rope tied around the handle lid, then that is the easy access lid for the toilet outlet, for the footpath dwellers.

I would like to take the prime minister for a walk along the road in 'posh' south Mumbai, even along the route to the chief minister's bungalow,  because travelling in an air conditioned car does not let you see the ground reality.

23 - INTRINSIC TO JAPAN

If you ever visit Japan, be prepared with lots of yen.   Some shops just refuse to accept any other currency, not even dollars, and exchange machines are not always at hand.  The Japanese currency has coins upto 500.  Their coins are in the denomination of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500yen and for them,  it is just small change.  Keeping this in mind, it was yet a shock for me to read the price tags of fruits.  One pineapple was 1500yen and 4 bananas were for 500yen.

Another odd observation was that, at almost every kerb, there was a game parlour, with loud music blaring every time the door swung to let a client enter or exit.  Bright lights and with a full crowd inside.  So many young adults were patronizing these parlours that it was strange for me to note.  So it  was obvious that the Japanese adults, even middle aged men, enjoy video games, at public places.

Walking along a Tokyo footpath is a very mixed experience.  The sleek world brand shops, and the well heeled crowd made me feel that I was on an alien planet.  So many young boys and girls hold menus and discounted food coupons, trying to coax people to patronize their restaurants.  The pavement itself is an instructional signpost.  Painted on the pavements were messages that designated the areas for the public,  as 'no smoking' zones, 'cyclist friendly', no walking dog zone etc.  Special areas are designated for smokers, and these are labelled on the pavement and on certain closed booths along the metro station.  I recall the first strange sight as we exited the airport on arrival, was of a glass booth that invited smokers to freely enjoy  their cigarettes within its precinct.  So thoughtful towards the non-smoking public, is the Japanese government.

The footpaths are also specially embedded with one inch round metal circles.  These form a path for the visually impaired to follow easily and safely. As the footpath branches out onto a zebra crossing, these circular knobs are replaced by sharper, conical ones.  And they continue along the entire length of the zebra and onto the next pavement.  Even the public phone booths have two separate phones, one at the normal expected height, and another at a lower level, for the wheel chair bound persons.  So thoughtful towards the handicapped is the Japanese government.

The Japanese love their dogs.  They prefer tiny breeds and dress them and then walk with their little dogs in special dog prams.  I saw poodles, all trimmed and bowed, and all the possible tiny, hairy breed like the Pekingese, terriers, the Japanese Chin, the maltese, the lhasa apso..........The dogs were treated almost like their babies,  all dolled up and cute and cuddly and in safe little dog prams.
And the weather is so cool and pleasant, at 16 degrees C,  so most of the dogs are the furry ones that are favoured.

The most wonderful thing was that, I hardly noticed any police personnel, and yet the public place rules were followed impeccably.  I wish this would be replicated in India.