India now has more mobile phones than toilets

[Eldritch]

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01616/india220_1616765f.jpg
A sadhu uses a mobile phone during Maha Kumbh Mela at Prayag in Allahabad

Far more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet, according to a UN study on sanitation.

India's mobile subscribers totalled 563.73 million at the last count, enough to serve nearly half of the country's 1.2 billion population.

But just 366 million people - around a third of the population - had access to proper sanitation in 2008, said the study published by the United Nations University, a UN think-tank.

"It is a tragic irony to think in India, a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones," so many people "cannot afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet," said Zafar Adeel, the UN University director.

Full story. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7593567/India-has-more-mobile-phones-than-toilets-UN-report.html)

[Wulfhere]

I'm not surprised. India only has one toilet - it's called India.

[Cato]

Public defecation is a national pastime in India.

[The Lawspeaker]

It's good to see that Indian's can now afford cell phones but.. they still can't afford a decent toilet.
Now you can call your mother to say that you're dying of the black death or cholera. :rolleyes2:

[Svanhild]

India has a lot of mobile phones and one mobile toilet, the Ganges river. :wink Not exactly a joke...

[Cato]

India has a lot of mobile phones and one mobile toilet, the Ganges river. :wink Not exactly a joke...

And the Ganges is one of the most holy places in all of India. :rolleyes:

[Wulfhere]

And the Ganges is one of the most holy places in all of India. :rolleyes:

If it wasn't for all the piss, shit and diarrhea in it, the Ganges would probably only be a small stream.

[Cato]

If it wasn't for all the piss, shit and diarrhea in it, the Ganges would probably only be a small stream.

:p

[Bard]

Well, to be a true indian you have to drink gange's water at least one time your life if I'm not wrong.
Pretty dangerous.
Toilet use is a serious problem in India and other countries around there (don't remember exactly which ones) I once saw a documentary in which some volunteers had to educate people (expecially children) to wash their hands after taking a dump, because they simply didn't know that in that way you probably will get some terrible disease, it was not in their culture to clean themselves after defecation, they just went to eat their meal (with their hands still dirty)

[Svanhild]

And the Ganges is one of the most holy places in all of India. :rolleyes:

A new meaning for Holy Shit! :D

[Wulfhere]

Well, to be a true indian you have to drink gange's water at least one time your life if I'm not wrong.
Pretty dangerous.
Toilet use is a serious problem in India and other countries around there (don't remember exactly which ones) I once saw a documentary in which some volunteers had to educate people (expecially children) to wash their hands after taking a dump, because they simply didn't know that in that way you probably will get some terrible disease, it was not in their culture to clean themselves after defecation, they just went to eat their meal (with their hands still dirty)

Actually, I think we should respect their culture and let them live in filth as much as they like. It's only when they bring their disgusting habits here that we should get annoyed.

[Bard]

Actually, I think we should respect their culture and let them live in filth as much as they like.

ahah you just want them all to die from diseases

[Wulfhere]

ahah you just want them all to die from diseases

That's their choice. If they like wallowing in shit, as they clearly do (indeed it's a sacred duty), who are we to interfere?

[Bard]

Don't misunderstand me, I agree.

[Wulfhere]

Don't misunderstand me, I agree.

:)

[Lithium]

Their whole country is a toilet, especially their sacred river :D

[Óttar]

India's economy has been hampered by socialist policies. If they had maintained a capitalist system since 1947, India would be a force to be reckoned with like China. There is so much needless red-tape, i.e. needing 10 copies (no, this is not a joke) of your identification papers.

The introduction of a capitalist system would better allow the machinations of cosmic order to do its job.

The Ganges is most polluted in Varanasi. The Ganges in Rishikesh is as pure as the driven snow.

[Loki]

I like India. Never been there but would like to see it. Fascinating country with ancient culture and a whole lot of tradition/superstition. :)

[Eldritch]

ahah you just want them all to die from diseases

I don't particularly like it if people in the so-called "developing" [:D] world die of diseases or starvation. But there's really only so much we can do to help. Much if not all development aid is actually counter-productive.


I like India. Never been there but would like to see it. Fascinating country with ancient culture and a whole lot of tradition/superstition.

Some parts of India, definitely. Pity I can't stand hot weather and overcrowded cities, both of which India has plenty of.