Shame Shame,Whose Shame?

#ToiletForBabli –Is this the same Babli from that fun,frothy movie ‘Bunty Aur Babli’? Maybe,maybe not. She is just one of the millions of faceless girls whose lives are at stake simply for want of something that most of us take for granted-> Toilets!

Some time ago,I was surprised when I saw Vidya Balan on TV not promoting a movie but appearing in a social ad exhorting women to say 'No' to marriage if their in-laws did not have toilet in the home! ''How could an issue like building a toilet be so vital that a superstar is being roped in for such cause'', I thought! After all,we all have grown up listening to our grandparents talk about taking the ‘lota’ in the ‘fields’, haven’t we? And then that ghastly scene from ‘Slumdog Millionnaire’ where those boys in Dharavi lived surrounded by heaps of garbage,defecating in open-something we see every morning while commuting.What is the big deal?

And then I started reading newspapers even more intently. More than 597 million people defecating in the open. Girls being raped when they had to venture out of their homes in the dead of the night to answer nature’s call. That is when the point struck home! It is not only a big deal, it is a question of humanity!

Digestion is one of the normal bodily functions. We eat and we drink and we get energy from the same while the waste products have to be excreted. That is why we need and have toilets. Now I am trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who has to live without toilet. Where do I go to answer nature’s calls? In the open. Where does all this waste product go? In our rivers,lakes and seeps to the underground water reservoirs. Who drinks this water? I,my family, my friends. We also eat crops which are grown in the same soil contaminated with all kinds of garbage and bacteria from putrefying human excreta. So who is at biggest risk for diseases like Diarrhoea, Dysentry? Who else but of course me,my family, everyone around me. Add to that the fact that I am Babli, a girl. I have started menstruating and my school doesn't have a toilet. Will I be able to go to school during my monthly cycle? No! Of course, no wonder that so many government and social schemes have also not been able to get 100% girls’ education and that too because of a simple thing-non availability of toilets for girls in schools! I used to read all these like a boring piece of statistics in newspapers but now,I can seriously see the ramifications!

It is especially a dangerous and humane issue in a country like India, where women are among the most vulnerable and preyed upon social groups. Not only is a woman’s ‘dignity’ a big deal and forces her to ‘control herself’ when it comes to defecating when she wants to and ought to; with possible molesters and rapists lurking in every  corner of our poorly lit streets, it is downright dangerous for a woman to venture out at night for a simple task like-answering nature’s calls. Imagine how many innocent lives could be saved if only women had access to toilets in their own homes! No wonder I grew up listening to my mom talking about her mother and grandmother as women who used to drink nothing while travelling so as to spend the entire day without having the urge to urinate anywhere (while of course the menfolk always have it easy!)

Not only is this open defecation a serious national issue, it comes loaded with a host of sanitation, health and criminal problems. I am so thankful to Domex for having taken a wonderful initiative to do something about this. Here is a little something about Domex Toilet Academy-

Domex, HUL’s flagship sanitation brand, currently runs the Domex Toilet Academy (DTA) programme. Domex Toilet Academy was launched on 19th November 2013. It aims to become a sustainable and long-term solution to provide sanitation that benefits the local community and helps stimulate the local economy. The Toilet Academy makes toilets accessible and affordable, while promoting the benefits of clean toilets & good hygiene. Our effort has resulted in bringing the change in the villages of Maharashtra and Orissa and we aim to build 24000 toilets by 2015 in rural areas faced with the problem of open defecation.

Friends,This is an Appeal :) -> You can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. All you need to do is “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on your behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life.

I am in to do my part in eradicating this National Shame and I hope all my friends are in too!