I was at an house warming festival of my friends. Usually I don’t goto functions, I don’t think that defines friendship, but this one I had to go, because I was dealing with a guy who doesn’t think like me. He helped me when I was down, so I cannot let him down. I went. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lump of cow dung before his house, as I am a Hindu (but practically a atheist), I knew what had happened. A cow must have be brought in for worship to his car porch and it did its job. Just meters away were laid tables where we must eat. Fucking God! None bothered about it.

I did see a old lawyer friend sitting and I approached him to talk, I said ‘why do you sit here, it smells because of the dung…’, and his reply shocked me. He claimed this stink was good for health. What the fuck!!!! I didn’t know what to say, I moved away.

Science has progressed a lot. Yes once we destroyed most of our forests for agriculture and we did not have much logs to burn, and cow dung was a source of fire. It was also used a binding material to make plaster for walls and floors because quick lime was bloody expensive. But now? We have electricity to cook, in older homes there are still bottled gas, and we don’t need cow dung any more. We have cement these days. We have education and people who did attend that house warming, I am sure wil claim themselves as educated. Yet they are so obsessed with dung, and don’t even care to eat even if its meters away.

Even today I am sure some Indian is openly defecating somewhere. This happens even though back in 1970’s I think Indira Gandhi government realized shit as a threat to Indians health and campaigned to use toilets. This had a positive effect on Indian society, death rates dropped dramatically, and along with agricultural revolution our population exploded. But yet when I talk with my college friend who is from rural India, he swore by the convenience of open defecation, and swore against toilets. I was stunned. He is now in Singapore, I wonder if he defecates on Singapore’s roads now :) ?

Is vegetarianism a culprit?

I read an article in the BBC, how vegetarianism could affect ones brain. We humans cannot produce essential protein needed for us, and some of these are produced later in our digestive track and will not be absorbed into our body. To compensate for lack of these compounds, some animals eat their own droppings, but we humans don’t do it. Indians are mostly vegetarian and to get at least traces of these compounds, we have evolved a life where shit is available here and there, so that if some woman handle cow shit and cook or serve food, these compounds go into us, and possibly kids play in a play ground which has defections, they get some amount of it too. I am not sure.

Come out

I wish people will get more educated, they should not ignore what they have learned, and they must apply it. This unhealthy lifestyle, no matter how much its promoted by tradition and religion should be shunned. A healthier and more knowledgeable society should be created.