Toilets in Bhutan

Scores of us are exposed and will be not upset to witness the hygiene of toilets in Bhutan. If ever anyone feel, probably it is just that the person has never been out of his personal lavatory. 

Descending right from few high profiles toilet to plumbers it would be no different. Either it is well festooned with spits of doma (betel nut) or blocked with junks. This is the fate of toilets around the places. 

I remember during my recent workshop, one of the teachers pointing out about the condition of toilets in schools. Sincerely admitting, it is worse than anything. The reeking smell alone will suffice the visitors to back off from a distance. Forget about the interior.

Bhutan is lauded for pioneering holistic philosophy, Gross National Happiness. We have been receiving applauds from other countries and admired for being one of the cleanest country on the globe. Perhaps, at the core we are not. By saying so, I am in no way trying to defame my motherland. Nor do I claim to have the tidiest washroom. Truth is truth and must be confessed. 

Our bosses believe that cleanliness begin from toilet. If we are unable to wield the matters at toilet level, perhaps it would be herculean task to run and orchestrate things at administrative level. Isn’t it true friends? 

We are being complacent all the time. We dare not to be responsible just because the toilet doesn’t belong to us. Paradoxically, we are the ones who soil it and complain about the sanitation issues. We hardly chew over the negligence. 

I personally feel that we are lacking when it comes to cleanliness of the toilets, mainly the schools. Only one in a hundred schools will have washrooms that many will feel relaxed with. 

Because of our negligence and poor attitudes, many toilets are now becoming functionless and abandoned. Consequently, we are the ones who are victimized during the times of emergencies. I am sure there isn’t anyone who hasn’t dealt with the dire situation. 

To bring to light and to create awareness among the people around the globe, December 19 is observed as the World Toilet Day. The central idea is the right to sanitation. 

Billions around the world don’t own a proper toilet. Recent studies show that more than half a population has access to cell phones than toilets. Outbreak of water and air borne diseases has been closely attributed to poor toilets and other sanitation problems. Moreover, it has also impacted the overall cleanliness of the community in some parts of the world.

Now with much awareness and advocacy on the rising concerns of sanitation, I hope to have change first in the mindset and then acquire love for cleaning toilets, regardless of everything.

Let us all pledge to keep our toilets clean and promise to spread the joy of clean toilet everywhere. 

Mahatma Gandhi said “sanitation is more important than independence”