Eau de Toilette

Who makes your toilet?

Really!

Apparently, I know one maker of toilets in India. Hindware. They make billboards, in English no less. Their toilets were to be found at the company I was visiting.

India has two kinds of toilets, which seem to reflect toilets in any country that doesn't have completely Westernized toilets. They have Western toilets. They have traditional squat toilets.

I tried to avoid the second, and mostly did so.

The Western toilets are modelled after European ones. Apparently, no one has ever heard of low flow there.

American toilets often have a fair degree more water in the bowl than Indian/European ones. It almost resembles airline toilets, which actually have no water.

When you flush, a water fountain of a stream comes from the front part of the toilet (the part near you) and flows into the bottom part of the toilet near the back. There's a fair bit of water flowing.

I tend to prefer that.

And, oh yes, in India, the toilets are in small rooms that are completely enclosed, as opposed to Americans that are open air which allow both flatulence and odors to migrate all over. Yo, Americans, take a lesson when it comes to this.

You may wonder why I'm talking about toilets. Well, for some reason, this is the one activity that people tend to be most ashamed about, and yet, also curiously used to handling in the way they are accustomed.

And it got me to thinking.

If you had to improve a public toilet, how would you do it? So here are some of the issues.

First, you have a toilet that's being used by many people. Second, it's possible people will urinate (I'm a guy, so I'm thinking guys using toilets). And there's the smell factor. And there's the splash factor. And so on.

Somehow, I feel toilets haven't changed in a while, and it's up for a good redesign. I'd think some fancy toilet that sprayed warm water to keep things clean might be disconcerting. Is there a way to manage this?

In any case, Hindware. Making better Indian toilets.