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Gaudiya Discussions Archive » HEALTH, TRAVEL, ENVIRONMENT
Health, travel, environment and other related topics. Tips and tricks for keeping your body in shape for spiritual life. Taking care of your health while traveling in India.

To wipe or not to wipe - Stool - on your fingertips or your Anus?



nabadip - Sun, 24 Oct 2004 20:34:27 +0530
A difficult question, and often used as a proof for cultural superiority by one over the other: the practice of cleaning after answering the call of nature.

In India it is clear: water and the use of the left hand, or the middle-finger alone, is the only solution. TP is too expensive, if available at all. But then the healthy practitioner should be aware of the fact that his finger is full of stool particles, even if minutest and washed off carefully. What I do bring from the West is 70% cleaning alcohol, used for disinfection in hospitals, to take care of the problem. If you take a shower before disinfecting your hand, you are apt to wipe the minute particles over parts of your body, unless you discontinue the use of your hand for the rest of your life. Ritually you may be pure, but microscopically you can forget about that. If you use a soap, you'll rub the particles into the soap first etc.

Really healthy persons have a reduced problem because the well-formed stool leaves in such a way that no smearing can occur at the anus. But that is rare.

Also be aware that stool-particles float in the air where people have been doing their business in the open. When you smell it you actually inhale smallest particles which can be worm-infested, as I heard.

That is about India. Just be aware that your practice affects your general health there, especially if you are not used to so much open stool exposition.

As to the West: everyone according to his or her own gusto. But: awareness helps. Or are there rules applying to this too?
DharmaChakra - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 03:45:54 +0530
QUOTE(nabadip @ Oct 24 2004, 11:04 AM)
A difficult question, and often used as a proof for cultural superiority by one over the other: the practice of cleaning after answering the call of nature.

In India it is clear: water and the use of the left hand, or the middle-finger alone, is the only solution. TP is too expensive, if available at all. But then the healthy practitioner should be aware of the fact that his finger is full of stool particles, even if minutest and washed off carefully. What I do bring from the West is 70% cleaning alcohol, used for disinfection in hospitals, to take care of the problem. If you take a shower before disinfecting your hand, you are apt to wipe the minute particles over parts of your body, unless you discontinue the use of your hand for the rest of your life. Ritually you may be pure, but microscopically you can forget about that. If you use a soap, you'll rub the particles into the soap first etc.

Really healthy persons have a reduced problem  because the well-formed stool leaves in such a way that no smearing can occur at the anus. But that is rare.

Also be aware that stool-particles float in the air where people have been doing their business in the open. When you smell it you actually inhale  smallest particles which can be worm-infested, as I heard.

That is about India. Just be aware that your practice affects your general health there, especially if you are not used to so much open stool exposition.

As to the West: everyone according to his or her own gusto. But: awareness helps. Or are there rules applying to this too?



I suppose this really is a cultural/practical issue. As you say, TP may not be available in India, so the most resourceful thing to do is to use the hand.. resultingly, cultural taboos build up around that fact (just like we have in the west.. not many people use/see TP outside the bathroom, and you would usually never touch TP of an unknown origin...)

Personally, I've never found TP to be all that cleaning.. best is 'baby wipes', moistened towelets.. (now thats way more information than one needs to know!)

However, I did want to address this:
QUOTE
Also be aware that stool-particles float in the air where people have been doing their business in the open. When you smell it you actually inhale  smallest particles which can be worm-infested, as I heard.
This just is not true.. case in point, most sewage workers do not wear masks, and do not suffer 'worm infestations'. Not that I would recommend hanging out in these areas, but you won't be getting worms from smelling it ohmy.gif

That doesn't mean that sewage is harmless. It usually needs internal ingestion to cause trouble, but that trouble can be extreme. There are a myriad of diseases carried by sewage, and great care should be taken in not ingesting any of it. Its a common cause of water & food pollution.
Madhava - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 04:23:47 +0530
The particles can certainly fly around, I'm sure, but I don't think the worms themselves go flying around. smile.gif However I'm certain there are other nasty little gremlins that do. The issue is particularly acute in places such as Vrindavan where you have open sewages, and pigs and what not running around and splashing the stuff all over the place.

Here's a bit more info on the hazards of sewage. On inhalation:

QUOTE
The risk to health depends on the microbes present, duration of exposure and method of exposure. Microbes in raw sewage can enter the body via the nose, mouth, open wounds or by inhalation of aerosols or dusts. The most common modes of infection are through drinking contaminated water or hand to mouth transmission. Skin contact alone does not pose a health threat unless you have an open wound.

Madhava - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 04:32:54 +0530
QUOTE(nabadip @ Oct 24 2004, 04:04 PM)
But then the healthy practitioner should be aware of the fact that his finger is full of stool particles, even if minutest and washed off carefully. What I do bring from the West is 70% cleaning alcohol, used for disinfection in hospitals, to take care of the problem.

We generally use the Dettol line of products in India, we generally have a slab of the antibacterial soap handy in the bathroom. The Dettol disinfectant liquid comes in handy, too. They cost practically nothing there. Of course, when possible, we prefer natural products such as teatree oil as disinfectants.
DharmaChakra - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 05:26:51 +0530
Now, I've always assumed this taboo (cleaning with the left hand) to be the reason japa is chanted with the right hand. I know the left hand is ritually impure, but how does this apply to one raised in the west? We are much more likely to use our dominant hand when cleaning... yet the left remains impure... comments?
kalki - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 11:47:44 +0530
QUOTE
we prefer natural products such as teatree oil as disinfectants.



I had heard some time ago that Tea Trees in Australia are being poached too much for the precious oil especially as it has gained so much popularity in the healthy alternative community. Our purchases of tea tree oil directly support Tea Trees devastation. I believe there is an alternative natural disinfectant, though I can't remember what it is.
nabadip - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 16:19:29 +0530
QUOTE(Madhava @ Oct 25 2004, 12:53 AM)
The particles can certainly fly around, I'm sure, but I don't think the worms themselves go flying around. smile.gif


The idea was that the eggs of worms would be carried by those minute droplets. It is said that it is sufficient to just touch a cat or dog (who does in India? blink.gif , but some do here in the West) to get eggs on one's hand from where the animal licked itself. That would suggest that contamination with worm-eggs is real easy. I am glad if it is not the case as Dharmachakra says.
nabadip - Mon, 25 Oct 2004 16:24:19 +0530
QUOTE(DharmaChakra @ Oct 25 2004, 01:56 AM)
Now, I've always assumed this taboo (cleaning with the left hand) to be the reason japa is chanted with the right hand. I know the left hand is ritually impure, but how does this apply to one raised in the west? We are much more likely to use our dominant hand when cleaning... yet the left remains impure... comments?




I guess it depends on one's training. Those of us who have lived in some Ashram or temple for a while naturally use the left hand. It also has to do, or can have to do, with the way water supplies are fixed in toilets in India. If the bucket or jug and the water tab is to the right, it comes "natural" to get it with the right hand, and let the left do its business.

Not to forget the important fact that in India you are eating without spoons etc, with your plain fingers. Once you do that you get extra careful for your own protection. The ritual impurity of the left hand has therefore a vital function in daily life.
purifried - Tue, 26 Oct 2004 03:45:57 +0530
Just for fun, I thought I'd relate part of a discourse I heard that was given by one of our regular members. I'll leave it up to him to stake his authorship on this story if he so desires! biggrin.gif

Somehow our speaker felt inspired to address the pooping issue to a group of people and I felt he gave the best explanation I have ever heard (no joke). He said something like...

"Imagine you are walking down the road and somehow you trip and your hand lands in a pile of dog poop. Now are you going to just get up and find some paper and wipe your hand off and thats it?! No way! You're going to wash the crap out of your hand with soap probably a few times. Therefore in India it is considered much cleaner to wash oneself with water rather than just smearing stuff around with paper..."

I just thought you might appreciate that! laugh.gif
purifried - Tue, 26 Oct 2004 04:11:34 +0530
Oh! In case anyone is actually interested in cleaning themselves with stool, check this out:

http://careforcows.org/activities.php?suba...t_from=&ucat=4&

wink.gif