Indians follow rules. Indians are law-abiding citizens. Indians keep their homes and surroundings spic and span. Indians don’t throw orange peels or papers from moving vehicles, nor do they litter public places or spit on the roads. Where do all these Indians live? In countries where importance is given to rules and where norms of community behaviour exist more in the practice than in the breach. The Indian whose civic behaviour abroad is exemplary does not think twice about littering public places once s/he reaches India?

These examples can be multiplied.

She hurries-on before the sun is up or waits until dusk to avoid being seen by a host of passers by. Even at that time there is an occasional late returner or a bicycle rider passing by, when she instinctively stands up and covers her face in shame. Such is the plight of every young bride in villages of India. Our thousands of years’ old Indian civilization while touching on every facet of life seems to have strangely passed by one vital area – the scourge of having to relieve in public.

I am compelled to talk about a strange syndrome that is endemic among the Indian population. The initial symptoms of this disorder are acute:  the heart begins to beat rapidly, tongue gets tied in knots and the victim temporarily loses all intelligence and memory power.   The chronic symptoms are more dangerous: the victim’s spine slowly loses its strength and then disappears altogether; the knees remain permanently bended.  In some extreme cases (seen in parts of Tamil Nadu and Bombay), the victim is simply unable to get up from the prone position (‘saashtanga pranam’).