We all arrived in India with toilet paper as there were many stories we had heard of the “lack there of”. The hostel gave us three rolls..one for each month? So one of our first shopping trips was to find the necessity of OUR lives. As we traveled on and off buses, we would take our roll or borrow from a friend. All pretense of modesty was gone. We were in the same boat together! And if anyone borrowed , we would return a new roll, cause you didn’t want to be known as a toilet paper ” thief!”
Bathing was a new experience, too. The bathroom in the hostel was tiled from floor to ceiling and the whole space became the shower. It took some experimenting as no directions were included! There were several knobs to turn, to have hot or cold water, others to have the water come from the shower attachment, or the spicket into the bucket or into the sink. Probably makes perfect sense to the Indians, but we clueless.
We tried to use the shower as we did at home coming from the spray, but it was like pins of water and shampoo was very hard to rinse. Then there was the bucket with the cup. We are pretty savvy travelers… The light came on so to speak and we filed the bucket with hot or almost hot water, if we showered between 7-10 am. The small cup was used for pouring the water over us! Some of the smart students discovered that the water was hot in the afternoon just from the solar power of the Indian sun. A funny thing started happening in April with NO hot water in the morning. Complaints were made and the desk said that something was broken…hmm…No hot water…don’t things get fixed? Finally, Niraj our American of Gujarat heritage and pretty fluent in the language, got the real story. For us to have hot water, the furnace had to be on in the morning. The proprietor thought hot showers were not needed in hot weather and also didn’t want to fire up the furnace! Complaints and suggestions continued but the only hot water available was in the afternoon. We just have to take our “bucket shower” in the later afternoon if we wanted hot water! India teaches all who visit her ….patience and adaptability!
And how could we really complain or whine about our accommodations when we were often seeing how Indians adapt to bathing in the streets? Either in a group. . . .
or alone?
Boys are the same everywhere , turning most anything into a game including bathing and washing clothes.
There is ritual bathing for blessings in the Ganga at Varanasi and
ritual cleansing for prayer at the Friday mosque.
But my favorite bathing picture is this lovely lady enjoying a good soak!
Namaste. . . . .T I I I
TalesAlongTheWay 
I think (If I’m not mistaken) the picture of the “little shower attachment” is for…errrr…cleaning your precious (behind), like an adjustable bidet, sort of. It’s definitely THAT in Thailand. I have never been to India so I don’t know for a fact. I can tell more if I see the location of the thing. If it is in a reaching distant from the toilet stall, then definitely it is…sorry.
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Well you could be right. There were those in India, and also some hose under the toilet seat. Some of the girls tried and sprayed their pants! Good thing it is so hot and dry in India. All very confusing. I used to soak my husbands socks in the bidet in Roma and the maids would shake their head and say , “Mama mia!” We are just used to different ways. Thanks for the comment! Namaste. . .Anne
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Anne the little shower attachment and the attached sprinkler to the toilet seat are indeed to clean your seat without getting your hands “unclean”..by now you must be aware of the clean and unclean hand quirk about India.One of my friends from Belgium had taken a scanty shower using the little attachment.It was hilarious but she taught me a fun lesson.What you don’t know, doesn’t hurt.
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LOL! Lots of new things to learn and mistakes made. All part of the joy of traveling. People who are not flexible are not good travelers! Namaste. . . .Anne
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Yep, the “little shower attachment” is definitely for your precious behind…( As the High Heel Gourmet has put so well)!
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Hey I adore this post. Bathing in India certainly is an experience. It is the one place where I must partake in the “cold shower”…very invigorating I tell myself 🙂 Namaste ~ Lakshmi x
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LOL! Thanks for the chuckle! Namaste. . . .Anne
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Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
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Trust the lovely lady is still alive!
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I am fine and filled with wonderful memories from incredible India! Thanks for the comment and the reblg!
Nanaste, , , ,Anne
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Great story, Anne. Brings a whole new perspective on roughing it in India.
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LOL….she is fine. I love incredible India! Namaste.. . .Anne Thanks for the laugh and comment! Anne
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Love the story, Anne. Toilet habits are an important part of getting to know any culture 🙂 So good to see my own country from your eyes!
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I love incredible India and enjoyed every minute of the 4 months that we were there…maybe not the Delhi Belly so much…..8-) I hope my enthusiasm will encourage more people to try it! I do hope I can return , but if not have lots of wonderful memories! Namaste. . . Anne
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I am an Indian…and I am seeing it from ‘others” point of you…and yes the “little shower”…is for the behind ! 🙂
namaste
sriram
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Thanks for the information! I am so glad you are happy with my blog. It makes me very happy to hear from Indian people about my blog…namaste. . .. Anne
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Reblogged this on Tales To Read.
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Thanks for the reblog! Namaste. . .Anne
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Hi anne, it is really a wonderful blog of yours….Nice knowing you too. Are you on facebook??
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I am on FB but I don’t do much with Ithaca. At the moment , I am totally addicted to blogging!
FB. Anne Bell with same picture as on blog! Go for it girl. . . . Namaste. . . Anne
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Had fun trying to I M with you as I was walking and in the car. Let’s do it again soon! Namaste.. . .. Anne
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Love the lady luxuriating herself on a hot day..her happy expression says it all..Priceless photo
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Thank you for taking and time to comment and to follow! Namaste. . .. Anne
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You are wellcome
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I have that Noni gets an American doll and I hope there will be an INdian American doll. There are so many talented people contributing to our country now.
Thank you …..namste. . . .Anne
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Thank you.Talent especially the young guns are rushing out in our country.Its a positive and a very inspiring experience to have.
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Very exciting time for the country! Namaste. . .Anne
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Good day. This is Daniel from http://growupproper.wordpress.com/
Would you be interested in a mutually beneficial collaboration between our 2 blogs in order to increase our viewers/followers? I await your response on e-mail growupproper@yahoo.com
P.S. sorry for sending it as a comment (I couldn’t find your e-mail address).
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anne.t.bell@gmail.com Thanks, Daniel. Namaste. . . .Anne
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This is lesson all should learn
India teaches all who visit her ….patience and adaptability!
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That is the heart of the matter. . . .truth! Thanks for sharing!
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Wow! You learn something new everyday. Namaste.
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Namaste !
Keep reading Incrdible India is full of surprises!
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Will do! 🙂
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How wonderful. The photograph of the sweet elephant deserves to be framed and hung on the wall so everyone can see how beautiful she is. Really great post. I just loved it. Thank you so much.
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You are most welcome! Thank you for your enthusiasm. I love it..
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Ann, I hope this will let me in. WordPress has, for some reason, blocked my site, so I haven’t been able to log in for months. Well, maybe just weeks, but it seems like forever. And they will probably block this one too, but maybe I can get around it by FB or Twitter. Very frustrating. Had to have total shoulder replacement surgery a week ago, so life hasn’t been much fun this past week, but at least I made it home alive. Thought for a while my son and I would just have to leave without signing out, because we waited 3 hours for the nurse to come and take the IV out and change the dressings that should have been changed 10 hours before. Next time I’ll just throw myself in front of a bus and avoid all of that. Extremeful painful 30 hours in the hospital. But home again now and everything is bright and icy and cold. In other words, normal. Still trying to get my blog back because I’m going thru withdrawal here. Later.
Angie
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Oh I am so glad to hear from you. I was in touch with Mark and he said there was a problems tried a couple but I guess you never responded . Have you written to Mark? We need to get your email and FB or whatever. I have heard shoulder replacements are excruciating glad you are home, till have your sense of humor , and are back on your blog!
Big hugs! anne .t.bell@gmail.com
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Such an interesting look at bathing in India. Reminds me in part of the times the hot water in my building shuts off. It’s a very rude awakening here, especially in the winter with the wind chill at minus 9 the way it is now. And to think I once heard a rumor that Kentucky is a southern state.
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Have you seen picture from Atlanta today? Crazy. We are used to snow , ice, wind and bitter cold but not you guys. I see you are writing from Twitter and I have written your address down. I am so glad you are back!
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http://markbialczak.com/
Write to Mark. He wrote WordPress and complained and spoke up for you and tried to get things worked out. Do you know what happened? It is crazy!
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How are you feeling today?
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Are you there?
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Hi to every one, for the reason that I am truly eager of reading this website’s post
to be updated regularly. It contains good stuff.
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Glad you enjoyed it !
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your story and experiences paint a picture of India very unlike the Western world. very pleased to meet you see the world though your eyes!
thank you for subscribing to me and presenting this exciting opportunity! Eddie
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It is indeed very different from the western world. It was amazing to us that most of the student had never traveled outside of the US and were going to India for their first trip. Very adventurous 20 somethings! Husband and I had been to developing countries, but it is always some getting used to “just the way it is!” So glad you enjoy my tale and I hope you will return again soon and often! Peace!
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