Public Bathrooms and the Caste System
You may be asking what public bathrooms have to do with the caste system. Actually, its not just public bathrooms, its a sense of community. In India, there is no sense of community, like one would find in most places in the US. In its place, there is family. Most Indians do not donate money to charities, but wouldn’t think twice about giving their children money to buy a house. There are definite advantages to having stronger families. However, clean public bathrooms, or public areas in general, are not one of them. Since there is no sense of community, there is no reason to keep public areas clean. A walk thru any city or town in India will quickly show this. There is garbage everywhere. People defecate on the side of the street or the riverbank. Even in the nicest office building, the bathroom is putrid. The origin of this phenomenon is interesting: the caste system. Because one’s neighbor may be a member of a different caste, there would be no interaction. Therefore, no sense of community is fostered. Hopefully, as the effects of the caste system slowly disappear, so will its negative effects.
