The surprising truth of open defecation in India | Sangita Vyas | TEDxWalledCity
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- In this TEDx Talk Sangita Vyas shares the unheared and little understood reality of open defecation in India.
Its a well known fact that most of the open defecation in the world happens in India, social scientists and the government were struggling to understand why? Is it because we don't have enough toilets? Is it because we don't have enough money? The enormity of the problem was getting worse, 300,000 children lose their lives to preventable diseases related to sanitation and open defecation and most rural children face physical and mental stunting.
The answer as Sangita found in her country wide survey - is couter intuitive and very surprising. Listen to her talk to know the surprising truth of open defecation in India.
Sangita is broadly interested in the politics and economics of inequality and making services work in India.
She grew up in Dallas, Texas, and received a BS from the University of Pennsylvania. After college, Sangita spent several years working in New York in economic consulting but soon became discontent and moved to India where she oversaw a randomized evaluation of a micro-insurance program for farmers in Gujarat with the Centre for Microfinance.
Sangita holds an MPA in Economics and Public Policy with a Concentration in Urban Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx
This lady has a lot of guts standing on stage talking about people doing turds in the open.
Yes, she does.
Chrisnat Mills got apparently have never been to many 3rd world or developing country.
Hahaha. "Doing turds". Bringing this to the forefront of modern meme.
LOL-you made me laugh REALLY LOUDLY in my office-shame on you!!!!!!!
hahahahaha
We need her to talk to the Indians in Canada.
Plumbers and plumbing have arguably saved more lives than doctors.
They've also been around for thousands of years longer.
@@CoryMck bro this is the dumbest thing I've ever read. Indoor plumping was invented in the mid 1800s and doctors have been around since the dawn of time.
To be fair, it was government, taxes and city planners that saved lives. Plumbers just do the fine tuning. Still a good line though. Government and taxes get a bad rap, but they can do good things.
The Romans had indoor plumbing!
I DON’T know WHY the Indian Government is NOT investing into Plumbing trades in India...OBVIOUSLY there is a DIRE NEED for this service AS WELL AS Construction jobs..this WOULD BOOST the Indian economy...as well as HELPING the communities in India.
I've been trying for 22 years to get my wife to close the bathroom door. Didn't realize how good I have it.
brilliant comment
Install a powerful fan extractor, then she will close it ;)
Fred Dreger 😅🤣👏👏
you mean to tell me they don't stop doing that after a while? damn it...
sipandtrip320 bro, I was under the impression that women didn't even poop.
That audience looked guilty afff
They looked like they all just took a sh*t!
Jamie. They looked that way because they knew that 'Untouchables' weren't in the audience to clean up the shite, so they just denied that there was a 'smell'.
Ill bet half of them defecate in the open
yehi 'or hahaha
They were all shudras
What century are we in again??? Romans had plumbing
Romans also build sewers which are still "standing" today and in some of them you can have a tour, in some you cannot, because they are still utilized today.
@Abhijeet Singh Deora you mean better than modern day india
Pretty sure cavemen 50.000 years ago were more hygienic than modern indians.
Alex F - ha! This guy gets it.
But once the Roman Empire collapsed plumbing wasn’t “invented” again until the 18th century in many of its former territories.
This is a huge public health issue and she addressed it with class.
Canada is now experiencing this, it's the revenge of the Tikka masala lol
@@erikhyndman1115 lol 😆 that brought me here to watch it.
You need to come to Canada and give this speech.
Wasaga Beach Ontario - The world's longest fresh water toilet....
I can’t believe this. I would never have watched this if not for Coronavirus
must say you are 6 yer late.
Is that a good or a bad thing?
Pooing outside is naturel anyway, humens did it for hundreds of years.
Im so lucky to be born in india, in america they would shoot you if u poo outside.. so much for freedoms...
@@manmeetramandeep883 Yes,at one time EVERY ONE went outside. And then we learned about sanitation. We learned that disease is spread by coming in contact with human waste. Then we started using toilets. Places where waste is contained and disposed of in a way that does not expose others to it. This keeps people healthy.
And I have never heard of anyone in the US being shot for going to the bathroom outside. We have plenty of homeless people that do this. It's unfortunate and unsanitary
but, no one goes around shooting them.
That's is an out right untruth.
Shannabanana McInnis-Hurd 😂😂😂😂😂
Fine lady she got the guts to speak about the issue where the people of India does not want to talk about....
Emmanuel Cruz Yes, as you can tell by the Indian faces in the crowd 😬
She was talking shite.
v055313r Literally
They are doing nothing about the overpopulation problem due to religion! 🤔😕😒
I think you are wrong about that. Toilets and latrines for everyone was part of the platform that Modi elected. This is a serious problem both for health and intellectual development.
Nobody empties latrines by hand. In Zimbabwe if a pit fills up, we just stop using it fill it with sand and then dig a new one
IKR... just leave that stuff... where ever the hell it is... whew... lol!
Are you stupid? the shit decomposes after a few months. shit doesn't just stay shit forever.
***** hey stupid, using a shovel is still "by hand." And Indians are OK with washing their shit with their hands, but unwilling to shovel other people's shit. That's the problem.
***** I've already explained to you, only India and few backwards asian countries use their hands. the rest use paper or bidets, not their hands. l
***** they why don't you eat with your shit washing hand? if this is so clean?
I applaud this woman for disclosing to the world a subject her own people would rather die than talk about!!!
Not true. They talk about it without the communal or cultural nonsense. When toilets are finally provided, it will take developing a civic culture to use and maintain it.
I think this young lady did an excellent job of addressing an important health issue in India.
OK thanks
Yes she did. And most of the Donner Party made it back to civilization and survived. But that's not what the Donner Party is remembered for, is it ?
Congratulations on your remarkable powder of observation. Would you like a cookie?
Ill gift her family a giant latrine on our wedding day .
Props to the girl for caring about sanitation in her country.
Why was this in my recommendations? Or a better question would be why am I watching it??
Sick COMES to MIND
It is compelling and should be mandatory viewing in high school and college political science
Me toooo 😂😂😂😂
Don't all the people know this situación in India
Me too 😂😁
How do people poop in public when I can’t even poop when we have company over.
Lol. Truth! I get tense
When you don't have an official place to poo, you'd be surprised how quickly your standards will change.
I used to think the same thing until I spent 9 months in jail pooping next to 7 other people doing the same all in a row. No stalls, all open. You get used to it.
God, I wish I had said this
@@liang2492Because I had a "cavalier attitude regarding rules and laws" according to the judge.
I'm so grateful for modern plumbing and multiple flush toilets after listening to this.
thank the romans for inventing plumbing
Unfortunately they used Lead which is horribly toxic. It really wasn't until the 19th century that decent sanitation came about, especially after several disasters like the Great Stink of London spurred change
Nelson rodriguez sorry before romans arabs had done that first and i m not arab
me toooo...
No, Arabs did not have plumbing before the Romans. During Roman civilization the Arabs lived as desert nomads in what is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen. They had no architecture, and certainly no plumbing.
Physical taboos - dealing with illnesses spread by defecation, as well as shunning/isolating girls during their periods...
It was never about shunning or isolating them, but giving them much needed rest in their peak time
@@kirannaik2493 if she didnt ask for it its called shunning
@@kirannaik2493 did you allow them to worship or go to temple during their periods? Answer is no. You are a malayali and I am bengali and I can say that the patriarchy exist more or less everywhere in India
I hope you enjoyed this "Turd Talk" 😏
Yes thanks, turdally excited.
🤣
boooo!! * I approve
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👏👏
Jasmine Farkas 😂😂😂😂😂
If they spent less time trying to empty my grandmas bank account and more time building toilets they could fix this problem
The speaker really knows her shit
LMAO
rrmond 😂😂😂😂😂
Nice!
At 9.35, she mentions that another speaker had addressed the topic, before her, in the morning.
Shape up or shift out, you shit heads !!!
rrmond
Yeah I guess, but her presentation was kinda crappy. It seemed like she had a lot of statistics that she just dumped on us.
TH-cam- "Hey watch this video about people pooping outside"
Me- "mmm nope"
TH-cam- "our algorithm says you will"
Me- "Damn it your right..."
TheHopkinsje 😂
TheHopkinsje so fuckingtrue
Dang I'm on that list too!
Same
Facts! I've avoided this video in my feed for weeks. Finally, I watched and I feel the same.
It takes ovaries of steel to talk about this topic in public.
Check od of India now
Grito
India 2020 Open Defecation Super Power 😂😂🤣🤣
I'm sure the mic is picking up her heartbeat as well, at 120bpm.
@@Q_QQ_Q why
These people all move to Canada and think a plumber should make like $10 an hour.
Are you saying $10 an hour is too much…?
@@haydenhiltonHayden, girl, you're smarter than this.
@@rdrrr thank you but I have a learning disability and autism can you please explain it
And now, all these years later, they have started pooping in Canada's sweet Wasaga Beach and are proud of it. Unbelievable!
Oh come on India. I am from the poorest part of the world deep in Africa and I am very puzzled by this. Every single home in my country has a form of toilet in a secluded area. In fact this is the first thing that comes to mind when building a house. The British actually left us with a pretty good sewage system.
Abdulai Bah and which country are you from?
West Africa
Abdulai Bah Facts! I'm from some tiny country in the Pacific and nobody shits everywhere this is baffling to me.
If they don't want to use toilets then provide baggies
At least you admit you got all that from whites
The crowd looks pissed 😂
Check open defection rate of india in 2020
U mean pooped 🤣
@@dmarie44 nope
Yeah right. Like they didn’t know? Trust me, I know what pissed would look like speaking with a group of people that look like you that don’t want to hear a conversation about a common issue. And that ain’t pissed.
@@cjzanders5430 yeah people really don't know
People stopped feeling sorry for India a long time ago.
you are right, and I think it may have something to do with he constant phone calls
Yeah the scam phone calls aren’t doing the country any favours
i love original jokes like these
Open Defecation , sounds like a Metal Band 😂
lol!!!
😂
hhahahaha wtf
There is actually a grindcore band from the 90's called "Defecation" with members from "Napalm Death" !
They’re playing at the mercury lounge on Friday.
She's very intelligent. She's just stating facts. Some people in the audience look bewildered.
Its not the lack of toilets its the lack of shoes...why didnt she suggest that?
@SweatDeezTexas
You sent greetings to Dunning-Kruger.
@SweatDeezTexas They didn't. They died a lot. Public health is in all our best interest.
@SweatDeezTexas The reason you believe what you do is a phenomenon you should look up called Dunning-Kruegar. You see you don't know what you don't know. So you have all these strong opinions about complex things you don't understand. Public health performs many fine services in our country. You should consider listening to more science and health professionals and fewer game show hosts.
Doesn’t take intelligence to wonder why poor people don’t have stuff. Quite the opposite actually.
They are not angry, they are embarrassed...
Aviation Madness42, as they should be.
Jules Lu tf
They should be. Things like this are what escalated the coronavirus.
@Average Dude name one major disease which has come out of India in the last 50 years that has impacted the world globally leading to thousands of deaths and millions of infected ppl? I rest my case
Chief Big Bob lol how many cases of Polio are there in India atm? Less than 0.0001% of Children are affected by it in India. The cases are so few that it's almost non-existent
You do not need to empty the simplest latrine at all!
1) dig a a pit
2) make a cover (made of cheap planks) to stand on with a hole in the middle
3) the cheapest wall you want, maybe a door and a roof if you feel rich
4) when it fills, dig another one
5) move the building you have over the new pit
6) cover the old one with the dirt you have just dug out and plant a tree/bush on it
Thus no moving of feces involved.
Everyone does it like that. We Russians make such outhouses when we can't afford something better or can't be bothered to. English do it, according to what I read in books. And many other viewers already commented that they do it like that!
CatherineZ ikr??
it's about adapting the situation and dont just wait for the government to help. This is a responsibilty kind of problem...
Logical and polite. Thats why I like Russia. Long live Russia -- Form India
venkata kishore, I've always wanted to visit India (it started with me reading Ramayana and Mahabharata in short retelling (only 600-700 pages, I think) when I was a kid). I hope some day I will!
+ CatherineZ You are always welcome. However, please be warned about traveling alone. If you have to travel alone, limit it to south India (luckily south is also a place where ancient Indian architecture still alive. You can find thousands of years old temples in every 50 kms. North has lost all most all ancient sites due to invasions that happen in last 1000 years. Even today, North is a mess-up. All horrible cases are mostly from North.). Plan your trip fully (including which cab service to use. Even premium cabs still be way cheaper when compared to Russia. ). If going to small towns and villages dress in local style. We are developed when compared to 1947 (independence from British) and we are not yet upto world standard. We are on catchup. Example south Indian ancient temple: images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0SO80_7mn9ZSG4AK1BXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Mahabalipuram&fr=mcafee
venkata kishore, I never thought I was brave enough for solo trip ) I think I'd prefer a group tour from a travel agency to be safe.
(Russia is not adapted for tourism either, especially not for foreigners except for the main tourist attractions)
Audience look guilty.
MAX 330
😂
MAX 330 🤣🤣
I think the audience defecated in their pants during this TED talk. Indian food tends to do that to people.
Of course they look guilty, the western world despises them, specially Americans, through the widespread stereotypes perpetuated in media.
12:45 Reconsidering their coworker.
I was politely educated on this problem I never knew existed.
Well even in the best of circles the odd toilet joke gets appreciative smurks generalluy, and is perhaps some sort of primeval urge in humans, but this ain't a joke and vamoosed out of there! lol
@@S.C08 be proud to be an exception...
Same.
A proud plumber, quoted in the NY Times, once stated: "There is no civilization without plumbing." Amen.
Cathy S amen.
If you only knew, India was the civilization that started the concept of plumbing...back in 3000 BC, Harappa civilization.
@@mayurrathan what good is that now? everyone shittingon the streets and saying to themselves how great their country once was.
@@aulendilthegreat873 that data has changed. Population is the main reason everything cannot be accessed by all due to competition.
Versailles had no plumbing and no heating, just like camping.
I never heard of emptying a latrine, I assumed if it fills up, you would cover it up with dirt and build a new one.
I assume they don't do that because there's over 1 billion of them living in a country less than a third of the land area of the US. I'd imagine they'd just end up building so many of them that it's just not feasible.
Radjehuty The old latrine will eventually turn into dirt and manure again. just dig it up again.
Destinee Walls this is literally what every culture does on the planet except for in India
Open Defecation vs GDP is my new favourite graph. XD
Taxtro a true logarithmic graph
Camon this is a 4 years old video and this time period india built above 80 million toilet. do you know what is year going.
Check od now
@@ankitshukla1827not a single toilet has been redeemed saar
We have bathrooms on our beaches but these people would rather dig a hole in the sand on the beach. This is a first world country.
Somebody needs to dust the TED X in the background or stop focusing on it.
Greg Glasgow I agree!
😂😂😂 perfect
I can’t unsee 😩
Check Open defection rate of india in 2020
damnit man! you triggered my OCD.😫
My hat is off to you Sangita - i expect VERY few people would have the strength of character to do a talk such as this. Good Job with details and stats.
We have a similar problem in Washington... it's called, "Congress."
tiffsaver hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
tiffsaver We could just dig a new pit and start all over again.
Why don't you flush them every four years.
Truth! Lol
Good one!
In Canada 🇨🇦 I hear it's come practice in 2024
they pooped on the Canadian beaches recently, this is 2024
WHY AREN'T THESE PEOPLE USING A COMPOSTING PROCESS TO BREAKDOWN THE WASTE SO THAT IT WILL DISSOLVE INTO THE SOIL?
Exactly! I come from a developing country, we use pit latrines and I have never seen anyone emptying a pit latrine by hands. When they are full after years, it's closed, another one is built and everything dissolves into the soil.
Yah, that's it, composting. Not plumbing...composting. I see the problem now.
There's also home aeration systems that with a little chlorine block sanitizes the run off. Still has to be emptied every five years, but there's no pollution.
Please read before posting, there is a vast difference and you clearly don’t have enough education or experience to know the difference.
@@lusolanga8423 check open defaction rate of India in 2020
In Kenya we don’t empty latrines by hand. We cover it up with soil, demolish the upper structure and dig another.
Yes, that was the old way back in the olden days in Puerto Rico, that I remember of.
@@guadalupecarrero5762 that’s how we did it in rural Georgia too.
That’s how we did it out in the country in Australia, or we emptied the pan into a hole and when it filled up we planted fruit trees over them.
That makes sense
@@narellemacpherson6451 Sounds delicious ...
"Images like this one, taint India's reputation" --- When the audience totally misses the joke. SQUAT survey? Brilliant.
What she's speaking is the truth!
You don't think it is important to address this issue?
coz they're guilty af lol
@@sapphire6722 **pic shows person TAINTing the ground,**
**& possibly children's feet & health**
Naw, I think OP totally gets this tissue, saph.
👋➡️👍
Thank you!
I really like the way she talks. The tone and pace is so easy to listen to.
⛅💯✨
There's so much vocal fry though, it actually makes her sound very annoying to me...
Xuan Wu I was just thinking the same thing!
@@nienkes6211 I don't understand your comment. Is it a technical term for the audio system or something to do with her enunciation. Keen to learn :)
@tomvalentine4928 It's when people speak and their voice kind of crackles. It's hard to explain, easier if you look for a video explaining it, so you can hear it. My opinions on vocal fry have very much changed over the past three years since my last comment, though. I definitely don't mind it as much anymore.
Watch where you walk in India there's land mines everywhere
F Lopez gurpreet grenades
Yes, I even saw them in the city.
Chinese spit everywhere. Those are 1/3 of the worlds people.
@@kristyann9912 ok
We call them blind snakes.
How in God's name did I get here?
i'm sat here wondering the same thing lol
Dying 😂😂😂
Brian: seriously, no kidding. We were trying to find other topics. ,
That is exactly what I was thinking...
lmao
Awesome. The next time a scammer calls me I will be able to drum up a conversation.
And to think these ppl sitting are prolly paying thousands of dollars for this lecture and 3 more days approx in a session and all this money filters to "Ted x" ! Astonishing!
LMAO
🤣🤣
@Timothy Jahn: Savage! I get 3 calls a week. Thank you!
lol
Why don't they just build simple outhouses like my great grandfather and my grandfather did until the late 1940's on their farm in Indiana?
They would dig about a 6-foot deep pit and after awhile when the pit would start to get about half full, they would simply just dig another pit about 25 feet away, move the out house and fill the old pit with about 3 feet of earth from the new pit. No one ever got down in the shit and emptied the pit. What the hell would do with the shit if you removed it from the pit anyhow?
Yes you obviously would put the snit in ANOTHER HOLE! ????
my families from india and lives on a farm and they are middle class and they always used outhouses, they recently got actual flush toilet though, it was a big deal lol. maybe the problem is in education. Idk it seems silly that people don't know how bad open defecation is but maybe really poor people still don't know?
Not sure how this ended up on my watch list but I watched the whole thing. Very interesting. Thanks algorithm!
Hahaha Kelli, me too.
It would have been perfect if the camera had panned around in the middle of the talk to a guy taking a dump in the aisle.
Or walking through a door marked🚻🚾 that leads outside
🤣🤣😭😭😭😭
hahahahahaha
That made me laugh so hard my constipation was cured but I shat in the can
Wtf lol
i have tremendous respect for this dignified young woman to approach such a topic :-)
As an Indian she is part of the problem.
@@khosrow How do you mean?
@@khosrow not really, she's also part of the solution.
Yes she is.
Why does all the audience look guilty
cos they're all quietly taking a dump under their seats?
Probably are
THEY REALLY DO😂😂😂😂
@@irw4350 bahhaha omg
Super Q. Position Lol,
I had to put down my Oreos for this one.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣‼️
Put those things down anyway they raise your cholesterol.
Why not dunk them in coffee?
Check open defaction rate of India in 2020
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The audience looks so uncomfortable. lol.
Terry Novack they know they are guilty of sth
There must have been "Keep Off The Grass" signs posted all around the theater.
Hearing truth is uncomfortable.
In Rural Mexico we do not empty latrines by hand, instead we cover it up with soil, demolish the the upper structure and dig another. (Poop is organic and compost)
People in the American West used out houses when they didn't have indoor plumbing. The same was done with them.
Interestingly enough, these now are being dug up and provide some interesting studies as to the ways of these pioneers as to what was thrown down there.
@@BillGreenAZI’ll have to look into that. I bet it is quite educational.
I hope AZ is doing well this time of year.
"It is images like these that *taint* India's reputation."
Hehehe.... taint...
Tainted taint
😂
Noiceeee 👌
Jon Mitchell 😂 Don't you mean "Protect your taint before you cain't!" ....? 😛
viljamtheninja lol..
Why empty the latrine? Just cover it and dig up a new one.
Holy Cow! Did you go to graduate school?
@@ayyappanchithambaram4575 but they choose not to use them
@@thekyleprojekt7996 I hope its not true. Extremely funny if it is.
No we can harvest the poo for fuel
Too lazy to wipe, clean or flush. They can't even for bothered or courteous enough to dig a hole.
Wow. I had no idea that "open defecation" was even a thing. That's just sad.
Check od of India now
Good thing we opened up immigration from them!
DESIGNATED
U will poo in your mouth if u disrespect INDIA
Manmeet Ramandeep
It’s always been a thing! Plumbing is a recent invention, last 500 years etc
I lost it when the camera showed who the audience was made of
were they laughing or crying? Did not watch it right through as you can imagine, not my thing!
And their blank, confused stares...(I am waiting for someone at the end to raise their hand and ask "what is defecation?")
Indians with their arms crossed.
😂😂😂😂😂 Indiez can hold it hot as is
It takes real compassion and concern to talk about this health issue.
no it doesnt
@Dikdeep Patel we already know that... I saw you yesterday, in the middle of NYC...
So why doesn’t the Indian government educate their people
ChecK OD now
Uneducated masses are easier to control and abuse.
Yeah, they should educate them, and maybe they would elect their own version of Trump!
Those people are 1000 years backwards
Lisa McAndrews THIS IS INDIA’s PROBLEM. : NOT THE WORLD’s EVERY COUNTRY HAS THEIRS !
"We need to have frank conversations about caste." Bottom line. That's a huge generational shift. Caste is so ingrained in India. Props to this young woman for calling it like it is. I was traveling in India 25 years ago on vacation. I could see the caste system operating wherever i went. When I attempted to speak to my tour guides about it, they all claimed that "caste doesn't matter anymore." Of course, they are in the revenue-generating tourism industry and thus must drink and share the proverbial Kool-Aid. That would be like me saying to visitors to the US who asked me about race relations, that there's no such thing as racism in America. I can see the caste dynamic operating in Indian-American communities here in the states. Skin color is part of it. This is a HUGE issue for this country, the way race continues to be a huge issue in the U.S. No easy answers. Again, though, props to the young sister for this TED Talk. In India, US, Europe, South America, Middle East, worldwide, it will be generations behind mine (Boomers, as we are called in the United States) continuing to dismantle the traditions of separation among humanity that serve no humans or the planet, to affect real change. Every generation has its call.
@9sith Smith Since I am American born. Live here and love this country, that is a ridiculous response. I rest my case.
Well said
There is no such thing has racism in America if you dont watch the news
Even animals dig a hole and cover it up when done
They don’t do it to be sanitary. It’s to disguise it from other animals
Ever heard of a courtesy flush ?? How about a courtesy cover up ........??
Yea but we humans do things for more than one reason so its safe to assume scooby doo does too, some of them are smarter than humans.
Nope, go watch any bird, oh Fish, cow, ETC get a life outside the reach of you pet🐯
Indians learned it by watching cows !
The audience is so pissed. They got put on blast!!!! 😭
When I was a kid we had outhouses. We never cleaned them out we kept a bag of lime to "flush" the john each time it was used to speed up the decomposition of the poop. When the hole was full we covered the hole and dug a new one. We never dreamed of digging it out.
Exactly, I know a few places like that, although they pretty much all have toilets by now
That's what I was thinking...Just cover the damn hole and be done with it. Maybe the population is too high for that to work long term though, ..don't know. @Roy
Our local newspaper once ran an article about people who go to abandoned outhouses with a metal detector and dig for lost coins, rings and the like. They tell us that after several decades all of the smell is gone and nature has done away with the unsanitary condition. If the latrines are emptied out where does the waste go from there?
In biblical times, armies dug trenches outside their camp and used them, then covered it up. This was a requirement from God. I, too, used an outhouse as a kid growing up. My grandmother died in 1985, she never lived in a home that had running water or a bathroom. I've even recently used an outhouse at a recreation site. It's not that uncommon in rural America.
Roy Adamson agreed in India they clean them with bare hands. Another country paralyzed by ridiculous religious and socials mores
1. How do you empty a latrine? Where do you move everything to?
2. Why don’t they compost it as humanure?
@paloma piromana you put it in the ground, years before you grow vegetables
I swear Ted has a Talk about EVERYTHING
Lol!
It's Ted X. Anyone can hold one of those.
Love when Hollywood celebs go to India to find themselves
When they get there they find something else.. Pooping in public
😂😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
so the Hollywood celebs is a poop.
Do they have toilets at the airport or do they just wander out on the runway and squat?
Never heard about this until this Ted Talk
i saw a short documentary on it last year. the one i saw they used a lake and it was the small place they washed their clothes, bathe in
Hello dear you doing good job
mombai
Hey when you got to GO you got to go....
Have visited India 2X, along with additional sojourns to Kathmandu and most of Nepal. .. Took a rather famous train excursion known as "The Palace on Wheels", with train routes through State of Rajastan (former Palaces of Maharajas), Agra (Taj-Majal)), New Delhi and other cities and Indian States that were on the railroad routes. .. Water is a big issue in the entire nation, One morning, I accidently forgot to brush my teeth with alcohol (carbonated beer) and used tap water from the lavishly decorated bathroom. Needless to say, I had to spend the rest of the entire day in the privacy of my train cabin, "sick as a dog" !! .. All this was from one swig of tap water for brushing teeth. .. The next " horror" was that the toilet itself emptied the contents of bowel movements, urine and toilet paper, DIRECTLY unto the respective railroad tracks. NO HOLDING TANKS !! .. The railroad tracks run directly through the villages where hundreds to thousands of children play and sift through the toilet dispersal. .. The normal climate breeze, winds and the turbulence of the trains passing , further dispersed the contents all over the village and respective regions of the masses of population. This was not a railroad for the average travel of citizens of India, but a super historical Train, "Palace on Wheels", whereby all the railroad cars were vintage 19th century cars that housed the rich & powerful "Marharajas" as they ventured and governed all over the various States of India. .. Later, at one of the next stops at Jaipur, a major city hub of commerce and regional government, I was walking with an old SLR camera and witnessed more than a dozen people over a relative short period of time, casually walk under the bridge and openly defecated on the banks of the tributary river "feeding the Mother Ganges" !! HOLY SHIT !! (Pun intended) !! .. I ventured forward to observe the area of "disposition" and witnessed hundreds of HUGE flies and other airborne insects "chowing down" !! It was terribly disgusting as the ebb of the river tides would bring that waste into the "Holy Ganges" and eventually poison any and all inhabitants downstream. The ashen remains of thousands of openly cremated bodies of the dead was bad enough when witnessing the sweeping of human skeletal remains and ashes directly into the respective river. .. The entire Ganges and most if not all of its' tributaries are so toxic with the contents of the essence of this story. The population drinks, bathes, washes clothes, swim and fish the rivers that are also polluted with the discharge of the toxic chemical waste products from the adjacent factories and manufacturing facilities. .. The historical sojourn through the major cities of Rajastan and the other destinations were quite memorable and incredibly historical in nature, but the "memorable" sights of defecation on the banks of the major rivers and the indiscriminate dumping of human waste on the railroad tracks was nothing short of the
"Theatre of the Absurd" !! .. It is a travesty and it is with great astonishment that there exists very few major pandemic disease outbreaks within the entire nation as compared to the ratio & proportion of the practice of the 'open defecation' and other toxic pollutants. Cholera , typhoid and other disease maladies take a toll on the population but not to the extent that relates in proportion to the magnitude of the problem. Maybe the "Mother Ganges" is indeed "HOLY" !! >> And, to obfuscate the situation even further, the nation & Pakistan (two very poor countries) seem to be able to muster up the funds to build & maintain very expensive nuclear weapons platforms on "hair-trigger" alert to ostensibly wipe each other off the planet !! .. "HUMAN NEEDS & PRIORITIES" ?? .. NOT apparent in the "sub-continent" !!
Please excuse this rather long post, but the interested reader can discern the problem with the help of the eyes and the witnessing of this Western observer, a medical professional, who thought I saw most everything conceivable as related to the 'human condition' , until a vacation sojourn to India almost brought tears to my eyes !! ... Thank you for reading this post !! ...
Same here, been to India, and saw with my own eyes, still can't believe it. Your comment is such an exquisite piece of literature telling the absolute truth and reality of this Indian problem.
Thank you for sharing. I had no idea of any of this until I stumbled across this video and especially your comment.
The interested reader now understands the concept of aromatic India.
Any culture that holds a river in religious reverence, then CRAPS and PISSES into it, en masse, doesn't deserve to inhabit this planet.
Hi. I'm from India. I agree with the observations and the long comment that was made by the person here. And it is all the truth no doubt. A sad truth indeed. Also the fact that all of our rivers are being polluted is also sad. Almost ALL of the people living in rural India are farmers. Unfortunately, they don't understand the need for building of toilets because either they don't want to and don't care or simply because they're not educated and not informed. The rivers are not only polluted because of the throwing away of crematory ashes or the defecation but also the pollution from factories. A huge revolution has now started in the country and millions and billions of toilets are made in villages now. All the villagers are being informed about the problems associated with open defecation.
But simply because all of this and much more has been happening in India just because unfortunately some of them aren't much educated DOES NOT MEAN THAT OUR CULTURE DOESN'T DESERVE TO INHABIT THIS PLANET. I'm really sorry but no one gives you the right to say that. If you've seen this video, kindly also see other videos on India that are good. See the immense contributions India has done, specifically ancient India, in terms of medicine or technology and so much more. Remember that there are two sides to everything.
Sorry for the long post. Was just hurt by your comment. It hurts when someone talks like this about your culture.
Kudos to narendra Modi who brought changes in India like making so many toilets
What's the point of making more toilets when they don't use them. Canada have public toilets everywhere and they still defecate on the beaches. It's a generational behavior and culture.
We had an out house for 35 years and never cleaned it out. If you add lime once a week (about 2 lb's ) it eats up the waste material and it also keeps down the odor. Or bore a hole like for a telephone pole and every 2 years bore a new hole and move your out house and use the newly dug dirt to fill in the old hole. No cleaning.
ever dropped your iphone down one?
It's that kind of snake oil that got them in that position in the first place.
The issue here is that the sewage and lime penetrate the aquifers and reach subterranean bodies of water, polluting future supplies of water. Especially in rural areas where water is manually pumped or retrieved from ground springs and wells, the water you tamper is the water you get. It's important to de-stigmatize waste management in countries that associate it with caste systems, i.e. the point of her talk.
Palinae Mycenia Wonderful point. Us(ED). The past tense. And 200 years ago. Is it acceptable do use anything from 200 years ago?
Ever heard of farming, Shreef? That's been going on since the dawn of civilization. We still do it. Ever heard of light bulbs? They're almost 200 years old. What about embalming? That dates back to 1865. Cremation goes back farther than that. Photography was invented in 1839. Recorded music 1877. Steam engines date back to 1712. Refracting telescopes date back to 1608, submarines to 1620, blood transfusion to 1625, barometer to 1642, reflecting telescopes to 1663. So yes, there's lots of things from ~200 years ago that we still use.
Honestly had no idea. So many people crapping on the ground? Really shocked by this 🤮
barb ryll - it’s common knowledge
Never in a million years I thought I wud come across a graph of open defecation against GDP
.
.
At 5am
Haha
This killed me 😂
Lmfao
That's the funniest thing I've ever read
💀💀💀
My parents are from India and I loved this video. Because she's speaking the TRUTH. You GO girl. People need to hear this. When I visited India, my relatives in Bombay and Delhi all had flush toilets, so it wasn't an issue UNTIL I traveled. Then... OMG! I just decided to fast. Not even water. On my trip to Agra. Because... NO WAY was I using what was available on the road. India has a great civilization, we invented the zero and many other things, we have great geniuses like Ramunajan... it's about freaking time we fixed the toilet situation. And like she says, what's the big deal digging pit latrines? Many people have suggested composting latrines. Why not? But do something...
i've heard that indian people are not even using toilets that have been build already , they crawl in and sleep there because they don't even have a shelter for the night
Well yeah, do something. Government corruption has been a problem since the start of India. But look at it this way, corrupt as it may be, it's pretty impressive. Every country Europeans pulled out of suddenly seems to have high corruption but unstable governments. India at least has a stable government system and the country working hard together. It takes a while to fix administration issues due to English suddenly pulling and not training people to take over. Plus it takes a while to recover from the lack of development the British forced on India, and the 45 trillion dollars they pillaged.
@@tedinstead9642 no one does that, they built public toilets but the government doesn't maintain them. If 10 million Indians are poor and openly defecating then that means the other 1 billion have toilets and aren't. I've traveled around north America and other parts of the world, open defecation happens with homeless communities.
@@xCestLaVie1 have you been to India ?
I have 4 times all over
They do that
India also holds a record for number of people on the motorcycle
25
@@tedinstead9642 you know if everyone in India had the same no of 4 wheelers as they have 2 wheelers then that'd be the biggest jam in history. My point is according to the demographics of the country 2 wheelers are actually pretty viable solution
They can build nuclear weapon but can't build toilets for the people. Shame.
abdulsamad sulaiman at least they could probably spell weapon correctly.
abdulsamad sulaiman It's their culture. Sanitation is not their priority. They're not used to. High tech and ceo. Too lazy to build toilets.
Hold up there, Donald Trumpf
Look up India's caste system. It will explain some of this.
Like she mentioned in the video they do build them but people associate sanitation with lower caste. So it's more than a sanitation issue
India needs more women like her.
Firstname Lastname India is in greater need of toilets apparently.
whole world needs women like her, smart and hot
she's North America, I'm quite sure, based on her accent - whoa, she says she lives in India! maybe I'm wrong! Anyway, good ideas!
Firstname Lastname
She's American. Jeez.
no more people. We need FEWER people - overpopulation is the problem.
San Francisco: Hold my crack pipe.
Paul D I’m dying as a San Francisco resident. Born and raised😂
😂😂😂😂... I'm dying because I live there... Sf is something else... 😂😂😂😂
Paul D lol...I’m am laughing 😂
Funny not funny
Lmfao!!!
Indians have a ancient culture of Castes. The Untouchables Caste deals with toilets. Maybe something to do with that?
Lol westerners care so much about caste.
Well, I guess visiting India is off the bucket list😂
Take your own bucket with you if you go there
Made Me LOLFOMA Fred, Thank you:-)
Nothing like planning ahead eh Fred?
Stick to the cities or southern India y'all.. they use modern toilets there.
Claude Diamond as she said, its mostly in rural India.
The government needs to invest in public sewer, and education of its people!
I think if you were to do some research you’d find this is the least of India’s cultural issues.
This is an old video. India is now open defecation free.
So what is new since the last millennium or 5????
@@literaryfilmagent we built 110 million toilets. India is now open defaecation free.
It has tried for a century but really for 3 to 10 thousand years.
Sure they should keep trying, they should get a different result any time now.
Excellent presentation for a very unpleasant situation.
More than a caste system problem, it's an education problem. They may not know that the rest of the world makes fun of them. The filth in their country is often joked about. Along with their other eating, personal hygiene and other sanitation issues. I hear it often because I live in an area in the US where many Indian people live. Of course it's fine for them while they are in India, but when they go to other countries, they usually find out otherwise.
They should use composting toilets, it's actually a good idea. I'm surprised more people don't use them in general.
me too, long drop compost lou's...Why not!
Wats a composting toilet??
Question: what's a composting toilet.
Answer: India
Compost for what? I wouldnt want it used on anything I would consume. Waste Water treatment plant is the only solution. For this many people. Latrimes, outhouses, holes in the ground, are all too little for so many people. But I guess, latrines are better than open defacation.
I suspect they still have to periodically cleaned.
So I have a compost loo here in rural spain and it is lovely to go out in the morning and use it. After 5 years when it’s full we simply don’t use it for a few weeks then we dig out what has become wonderful rich soil. We then dig a hole in the garden put in the soil and plant a fruit tree. Great system!
chris davidson cool! Is there any feces left in the compost or has it all been biodegraded into the soil? Does it smell?
@@christinabrown8479 - All organic matter, be it poo or anything else for that matter. Will turn into compost given the proper conditions. The question of "left in the compost" is just a question of time. It will turn into compost one way or another.
Many people using "humanure" (fancy new word for human feces) leave it sometimes until 2 years.
Longer periods will ensure the full composting of even most medicines and several pesticides! Making it a perfectly "safe" product.
Smell usually is not and issue after the first days/weeks. Most important is the process used. Which might return a complete "no smell" experience after the first intervention.
chris davidson Where do you go when you’re not using it for a few weeks?
Mc Earl hi there. Well we do have a conventional water toilet in the house. ( The compost loo is outside) so we just use that for a couple of weeks. :-)
Christina Brown Hi there. The poo becomes inoffensive pretty soon a week or so ( Think of dog’s poo 💩 )
Once it degrades in a few months it smells fine sweet almost :-).
00:22 she’s really trying to get across to the wrong crowd
Kaylynn 😃
I bet everyone in that crowed shits on main Street wen they leave the show. 🤮
Serious question here. When the outhouse fills up, why not just cover over the pit and dig another one?
Most of the world does just that. You cover it up and dig another one.
its a space issue.....there just isnt much space to go around building different pits .....at least thats what i feel as an indian
She said rural india...not a lot a space in the rural part..is think rural means a lot of space.
That is what I do.
Dig a hole, move the out house, and put the dirt on the filled hole. When the 2nd one fills up, I dig the dirt out of the first hole and put it on the 2nd.
Population density.
Instead of emptying the pits, they could keep shoveling dirt/sand onto it. Then build a new pit in time. It could also have windows for ventilation in the outhouse if they are afraid of the stank killing them.
What a thoughtful and effectively structured talk. Thank you for your research, cross-disciplinary analysis of the situation, and for sharing what you've learned.
Amy Hull really?
Woah that’s some good comment etiquette right there
I agree! This was a great study to hear and she presented with such poise
@@JDirty-w-tha-30 6years les5panarenfra modi
The sarcasm is strong in this one
In rural United States, 100 years ago, latrines were never emptied. They were moved to a new location with dirt from the new hole used to fill the old latrine. Then a fruit tree was planted on top of the filled in latrine. That fruit tree always provided the largest and sweetest fruit. We call them "out houses". The hole had dirt floor and walls. The above ground "out houses" were almost always built with wood with wood floors, seats, walls, door and roof.
It also happens in my country in some poor villages where there is no sewage system. So in India its not an issue of money-what does it cost to dig a hole in a ground and put four walls around it?Its the mentality of people which needs to change.
yes its good to see how the ,Americans have developed through hard work unlike the europeans who only leached off others .
Thank you!
Yes, just dig a new friggin hole! Nobody has to empty the sh-t pit. You don't get shunned for digging holes over there do you? Problem solved.
You forgot to include "...in rural areas..."
Indoor plumbing of some kind was common in cities 100 years ago. Of course, infectious disease rates were much higher then whether urban or rural because no one washed their hands.
@Brian Linden eventually you run out of new space.
My question is, when it’s emptied, where do they put it? Did I miss that part?
Even the Romans had toilets thousands of years ago....
Did you hear about .. harappa, sindhu ?
even ancient Indian civilization had better accessibility of toilets 4000 years ago
Sewer systems have been used in Indian cities for thousands of years
Rome was a city- much easier and cheaper to establish a sewer system. The problem in India is in the rural areas. Huge areas to be covered.
@@nandagramecovillage3707 LOL, this actually makes it worse. Are you telling me you are more savage than your ancestors ? Sounds like you have regressed.
Best advice I can give is "watch out where you step".
good thing they have a space program...
+Toxq Jam THEY WANT SHITTING IN THE SPACE?
+Toxq Jam But how will they fit a street in the shuttle for the astronauts?
+Toxq Jam Comeon.....Indias space program is not that expensive because the scientists are paid peanuts. I am a newbie credit analyst and I earn as much as those vetran scientists. Even the budget of the smallest town of India is more than the budget of ISRO.
+Your Daddy Saitama
Um...
Imagine an India cosmonaut shitting in open space.
I don't know that I've heard the word "latrine" used as many times in a decade as often as I heard in this 15 minute video.
@Chief Big Bob I'm well aware; I'm talking about this person's over-use of the term, as she bludgeons her audience with it the same way Marie Kondo uses the word "tidy" ad nauseam.
The use of “taint” 0:29 in was perfection.
But you toss around defecation and feces in everyday conversation?
I met a woman named Latrina.
@@sosaix3545 But that's what they are tho
What about composting toilets? They’re even simpler, though would need sawdust or other material, but no doubt it can be found. That would take care of everything, even better than the US.
What about just a regular septic system?
@@insurancethatfits its about the water duh
Yes, as it is becoming more apparent over time that composting toilets are just a clean as modern plumbing, and much better for the environment. People living in modern countries reject the idea for the same reason as rural people in India reject latrines... misconceptions, lack of education, and social expectations surrounding defication.
@@wildflower1397 Composting toilets sound like the way to go. You’d have to have a massive education program and the family would have to view the “feeding” of the compost as an acceptable activity. Does a composting toilet ever have to be cleaned out?
@@wildflower1397 Agreed and well put! Maybe someday humans globally will make these decisions based on functionally superior, evidence based solutions, vs. cultural familiarity, regardless of what that cultural familiarity initially was.
Shame on our country that untill recently nobody even talked about the problem of open defecation. For all his flaws Modi is the first prime minister to make it a national priority.
However I feel that Sangita Vyas has not studied India well enough. Not being able to empty the pit is not the reason why rural Indians defecate in the open. A lot of people are shamefully guileless about going on the open even. Many in rural India do have toilets but men still tend to go out !
We need a cultural revolution to change this mindset
In al fairness, she did say that Prem, she said the thought behind still going outside, even though they had a latreen was that it was healthy for the system! misinformation basically
And she forgot to talk about the putrid Ganges river, that discharge the whole despicable content over the Indian ocean .!?! What a horrible contamination for the ocean.!! What a shame and ignorance ... And we are living in the XXI CENTURY !!!
plastic is worse .....
Mmm, shrimp! 🦐🦐🍤🍤
plastic is a global problem ....on global scale ,theres going to be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050. Ganges is just a river in India .
What's your freakin' point "no speak English"? That you want to wait until the feces in the Ganges begins poisoning the Indian Ocean before it becomes a big enough problem to solve? Slap yourself.
Augusto Bautista
You mean the holy river Ganges??
"If I poop in a field I can live to 100 years old"
Check Open defection rate of India in 2020
Zeli Ang I’ve seen you post this on a lot of comments... just wondering do you have a disagreement with this woman’s ted talk? Or do you find this offensive? I hope I don’t offend you I’m just generally wondering if there was something that led to a change like the one you’re posting about. Did this topic become more important as of late?
@@Pushnotificationsalwaysoffbye yup
@@zeliang5101 Heyya! Leave these guys don't believe that india is now changed. Also, they really don't know ground reality it's not their fault. Our previous Governments never took issue seriously and now suddenly Modi ji helped india by providing funds to have toilets built for every house even in remote villages. I myself saw the neighboring vlgs getting benefits of swacchbharat. Though all of a sudden we got out of an idiotic thing after 70 yrs of Freedom. It's okay if these guys maintain poop in their heads by not listening to us that india got changed. Have a nice day 😊💚
If I would have my way, I will not allow any harm to come to this woman. She just have to watch her back from now on. Age of enlightenment is definitely here. Thank you.