A little spittle

When I think about gargling water and spitting it out, it's usually immediately after I've brushed my teeth, or maybe after I've eaten something foul, or when it's hot salty water when I have a bad throat.

Today it's an entirely different thing that comes to mind:

The driver of the Innova in front of me rolling his window down and spouting a whole lot of gargled water out onto the road.

My reactions are varied. At first, I'm surprised, then amazed at the audacity and disrespectfulness of it, and then disgusted by the commission of a personal act in public (I mean, is it all that different from urinating in the middle of the road in broad daylight?).

Then I slowly become aware that this is something I'm usually inured to. People hawking and spitting as and when their throats cough up gobs of mucus; people delicately pinching their noses between a forefinger and thumb and shooting out a spray of mucus on to the road while avoiding getting themselves dirty; people chewing paan and then shooting out the indigestible remnants in a red spatter on a wall... and these are all the more sufferable commissions. It makes me writhe in disgust to consider how nonchalantly people expel stuff from their various orifices as though they were completely justifiable and acceptable acts.

Actually it makes me mad.

Many people want to argue that not every one has a (nice) bathroom in which they can do all the above in private and hence are forced to use the pubic spaces. I object to this cavalier waving-aside of such objectionable behaviour. If they can commit some acts in private I see no reason why they cannot include all the others too. No, I firmly believe that not having a (nice) bathroom to spew your mucus extractions in is not the reason that people unthinkingly let loose in the open. In fact the reason is that they are "unthinking"... and uncaring.

For some reason it is/has become a cultural norm in India to spit in public. As an erstwhile friend once said, it is the western influence that makes some of us reject what is actually ingrained in our indigenous natures. But I have to protest as I do not believe that spitting has always been approved of or even been inherent in our Indian society. I do understand that it was believed that it was unhealthy to swallow mucus once it had been drained from the sinuses into the buccal cavitiy (your mouth). I get that some people just feel gross swallowing it. But I don't believe that the answer to this discomfort is to just shoot it out your moth with complete disregard of others around. Similarly I do comprehend that chewing paan has very soothing qualities and that the stuff helps your stomach do its job better... but there can be no justification to spewing that violently red, semi-digested goo all over a wall, a road or - even worse - somebody else. Back in the day when they had spittoons every two yards it was a different story. Then my concern would have only been for the cleaners of the said spittoons, and not for all the public spaces that make up the city I live in.

I know in the last few years the Indian government tried, albeit weakly, to fine people for spitting and in fact there was a ban on spitting in historical monuments (couldn't even imagine something like that in another country); but nothing seems to have made an impact on our 'everyman'.

The other day I was walking down the stairway of a government building, the very worst when it comes to all the above mentioned offenses. I had to consciously hold my arms against my sides and walk in the middle of the path as I was extremely squeamish about coming into contact with the walls or the railing. Needless to say they were liberally splattered with splotches of red sputum, and reeked of other bodily liquids too. It irks me when I have to live in a society whose government turns a blind eye to such desecration.

On the other hand there are the elitist malls and regal office complexes that sparkle with all the sheen of sophistication. Are they only the facade put up for the world outside to see? Bangalore has tourists thronging the city's haunts, but who don't necessarily get a closer look at the places closer to the inhabitants. So then is it true that inherently we are a people who like to complete our ablutions in public but have learnt that to attract the dollars we need to build fancy buildings that have perfectly serviceable loos?

I try scolding a couple of drivers when I see them spitting out of their car windows. They simply stare uncomprehendingly at me and insolently drive off. I feel like I'm talking to developmentally disabled people instead of normally functioning adults. Is there no way to instill a sense of civic pride in these people? These roads which we pay high taxes to maintain should be shown at least a little respect, is my feeling. But then again I watch how callously the BBMP are digging a pit right across an arterial road causing huge traffic delays. The government itself doesn't care. How can the people be forced to care then? We can't maintain the roads ourselves so we pay taxes to a higher power who promises to do it for us. Then they do it in such a way that only causes us more inconvenience, and so the only response left, it would seem, is to spit in derision.

I have to sigh and swallow the vitriolic tirade that is threatening to come screaming out my mouth.

Anarchy is uppermost here. Nobody really cares about anything as long as their immediate need (e.g. to get from A to B) is taken care of. Should an obstacle present itself, it is removed quickly even if not efficiently, so that the goal may be reached. Be that obstacle a gob of mucus or a big stone in front of your car which is summarily pushed to the other side of the road.

It seems to me that when we learn to slow down a little, and learn to respect each other a little, then maybe we will look at our own individual habits a little more carefully, and then perhaps when we develop a sense of self respect, we may be able to care a little for what little clean space we have left.