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Originally posted by 2manyquestions
Defecating, urinating, and dumping dead bodies in the same water you bathe in and drink is very, very bad. It spreads disease and makes living conditions even worse than they have to be. If poor isn't enough, being poor and sick is even worse. Having to battle diseases AND hunger at the same time is no fun.
It's not like Westerners have never dumped bodies in water. We've had the Vikings who every now and then cremated a dead body on a boat and sent it down the river (although most were buried in the ground), but generally these cultures eventually learned that burning or burying dead bodies away from the living was a way to control disease and pollution. There was a time when in big cities people would dump their sewage out their window and into the alley. Eventually they learned it wasn't healthy and developed different ways to get rid of sewage. People washed their dirty clothes in rivers, and eventually learned to not do so. Poor people living in the outskirts with no sewers built outhouses for themselves far from the house/shack they lived in, away from their water source.
I don't know if being poor has anything to do with it. I've walked through some poor Roma (Gypsy) areas. These people live in shacks at the edge of town, similar to what is shown in the photos, but I can tell you it didn't smell like death, and there were no dead bodies rotting nearby. I've also been to Mexico where people live in shacks with no electricity or running water, and I didn't smell feces or dead bodies there either. Although these places looked like hell, they couldn't compare to what was shown in those photos. You can be poor and still maintain a certain level of hygiene. One thing is for sure,.... you couldn't get me to come within a mile of the Ganges.
On the other hand if they don't mind living this way, I wouldn't want to stop them. Most of these people grew up doing what they do, so it's hard for them to see anything wrong with it. It's up to the people to decide how they want to live. All I know is that even if I lived in the ghetto or on the street, I'd still want to maintain my living area and keep it as clean as possible. It's one way to avoid extra problems.
Originally posted by ladyinwaiting
reply to post by hp1229
Just a note.....your quoting needs some work.
It looks like my statements are your statements and your statements are my statements, and oh, nevermind.
Originally posted by 547000
reply to post by sir_slide
Okay, so why do these people who are meticulous about being clean themselves not care about keeping public property clean or well maintained? Stuff like throwing all your rubbish in the streets and the fact that there are almost no public trashcans in India? They, unlike these poor people, are educated and have money. Why do they behave like this?
Originally posted by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
reply to post by Vitchilo
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww....
Those pics are quite nasty... no wonder there are diseases in these places..... how anyone can think this is 'normal' is beyond me.... how anyone can bathe there is beyond me....
Actually makes me wonder what i've been eating when i've eaten out at restaurants.....
This photo below...... what the funk has happened there?
Originally posted by 547000
reply to post by sir_slide
Okay, so why do things like restrooms look like hell? And why do some Indians who move abroad continue the practice of littering? Why do they spit their disgusting paan on every wall they encounter?
They have NO respect for public property. Only respect for their own property.edit on 14-1-2011 by 547000 because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by sir_slide
reply to post by 547000
sounds like you have a bit of a beef. i apologize but i don't have time for this.
Originally posted by Echtelion
reply to post by Vitchilo
Assume it, Vitchilo... your thread IS to bash Indian culture.
The source page of this thread is a complete load of culture jingoism and one-sided judgements that are based on ignorance. Here's some examples:
- "hole in ground" type of toilets are actually widely found everywhere in Asia and Europe, raging from cafés in Paris, to Bulgaria, to northern Africa, to hotels in Rajastan.
- Washing your butt with water is actually the most wide-spread habit in the world. Putting aside Western Christian countries and probably China and Japan. And guess what? It's MORE hygienic than toilet paper, while being more environmentally friendly. I won't go into distasteful details, but let's say water does a far better job at keeping your butt clean than paper.
- the Ganja river. It is a religious belief in India that throwing a corpse in the Ganja river carries the souls to the afterlife, since this river is SACRED. It's a well-known fact. It's crazy to see that, of course, but to other people in the world, to incinerate corpses in mechanical devices and put the ashes in hundreds of sealed little boxes all squeezed in some weird-looking buildings, it's something totally unthinkable and a profound disrespect for the dead.
- Weird disgusting diseases: can't deny it, but you find these in all third-world countries. Rather try finding these horrible deformations and sicknesses among the upper caste of India... you might not find a lot. Just as everywhere else, these problems are linked to socially-created problems of extreme poverty, and lack of hygiene as well.
Everything is perspective.
Originally posted by badw0lf
Obviously you are correct, but what does it say in reality - there is a thing called common sense, and when you avoid it, you end up drinking your toilet water.
Don't expect people to say "Oh thats just him, he's always been like that" as an excuse, it's friggen stupid.
Culture? Sure there is - plenty in the water..
Originally posted by sir_slide
reply to post by xanaoded
This is where I will be bathing in the ganga, cleansing my soul. This is the ganga in rishikesh.