Pot Philosophy

This is neither about raising a stink nor about being on a high. I was on a sabbatical from all forms of electronic media for the last few weeks as it was getting a little out of hand since the Barkhas and the Arnobs were competing with each other to drill their opinion down my head. So much so that a nervous breakdown was inevitable as a result of breaking news overdose. Thought it best to seek solace with an old friend, the print media.

Picked up the latest copy of the Outlook and walked into the most peaceful part of my house and the place where I get all inspirations from. Settled myself on the throne and started to read the cover story. It was about India's no 2 problem. We are not talking about a deputy to the Indian Prime Minister; even if that was the case it would have been a number 3 problem. It was nice to read that the who's who in Indian politics was vying with each other to stand up to the cause. All along they were at each other's throat as sitting MP's and occasional taking a hit at each other, no, I spelt both words right if you are wondering about a missing 'h' and a ‘s’.

Sanctity and sanitation were no longer at crossroads but the sanctity of sanitation certainly was. The debate over the old saying Cleanliness is next to Godliness was undergoing an image makeover. Political parties across right, left and center were challenging each other to rephrase it, and cutting across party lines and ideologies they settled on a rearranged version. They showed the courage to say Godliness was next to Cleanliness. It might be a small step but certainly will make a huge difference in our efforts to be a sanitation friendly state.

Parryware the legendary sanitary ware manufacturers were the first to position washrooms as Glamour-rooms. It showed the most sought after models endorsing candle lit glamour-rooms when a majority of Indian women had to walk miles to relieve themselves. The kind of evolution that is taking place in the design of cisterns is phenomenal. They have motorcycle shaped designs for the young and the adventurous heart shaped ones for the romantically inclined wonder why you would want to do it through the heart.

Move over the designer ware cisterns. This is the era of innovative Smart Potties. The crown amongst the throne is the one that can be controlled with your smart phone. I mean the smart phone can only trigger the lifting of the toilet seat and the flushing of the cistern and bidet not the urge itself. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or what app you may develop when you got to go you got to go!!! You can flush with, not flush down your android or your ios enabled phones. It can maintain a diary of the music you want to listen to and play it from an in built speaker, depending on the situation you are in it can play a Beethoven or a Metallica.

The sad part is all these developments are aimed at improving your comfort during your stay in there. These days with the foray of international sanitary ware manufacturers making a beeline to tap into the potential real estate market in India, I feel it should be made mandatory as part of their corporate social responsibility to offer at least 1 pot along with a shelter from their basic model for every 50 they sell.

So all of you out there, as you sit in there like androids or monks in deep thought trying to hit upon that game changing idea and run out like Archimedes, spare a thought for the millions of less fortunate who have to walk miles or stand in long queues for the same.

We all know **it happens….but I believe that we as a community can make it happen in a more pleasant way for the less fortunate around us.