Well - from the main streets of Delhi, across the countryside, alongside train tracks, in the hedge at the temple in Sarnath, in fact almost everywhere you look there are men urinating. In fact there are men everywhere and far fewer women in any crowd. So when I asked some Western nuns who have worked in the villages for many years they reported that women here either don't go out, don't drink much, or hold on with remarkable powers of retention because there is simply nowhere for them to pee. The result of this is frequent kidney problems, in fact they knew a woman who had eight children and had died recently aged 34 due to kidney failure. Simply not enough water going through. So of course women don't go out, and even when it is acceptable to use the field toilets after dark they then live with the fear of snakebite, or rape.
A few of the cities have public toilets but I found myself caught short with the runs in Varanasi and looking for a toilet in a city where most people use the river (upstream from all the other activities)was not easy. Found a cafe where you could sit and drink chai overlooking the Ganga, and then walk up through the cowshed, over the washing up, through a couple more courtyards to a reasonable loo. This place became a favourite. So I plot my path from acceptable facilities to the next bearable pit stop. The other day I was desperate at the Mahabodhi temple - holy site of 100,000 pilgrims - and held my nose to enter the primitive loos at the side. I survived but made a note not to return. But the next day again I wanted to meditate in a relaxed fashion and so I braved the smell again, only to spot some Asians walking beyond the offending building to a super new shiny Toilet completed in August and sponsored by some generous and sensible Thai woman - our benefactor. So now I tell my friends about this miracle of cleanliness. Of course it won't last as the little showers to spray your bottom are already cracked, and one of the touch sensitive taps has been ripped off, and the Tibetans look in amazement at the automatic hand drier. No soap. But it answers the question of where some of the fortunate travelling women pee - sadly the women in the villages still don't go out much..
