There are no proper women’s toilets at public places. Would it seem very strange if we were to start a campaign for a proper ladies’ toilet now? We live in a world where women may be raped or molested right after their birth, at any age. Dignity, decency, care, kindness, concern, and love need to be taught to the human race, and a movement for the right to pee would be a rude reminder to all of where we stand today, agonises Hemashri in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.
Who was the first man or woman who advocated that women should go out of their homes to earn a living? One reason a woman cannot be a man is that God designed her differently. An average man does not need privacy to relieve himself, unlike a woman.
Every time a woman goes out, one of her greatest inconveniences is the lack of proper toilet facilities. Two designated areas in a home indicate the family’s decency and culture: the toilet and the kitchen. Proper hygiene in these two places has a tremendous impact on health and well-being. Similarly, the status of public toilets reflects a society or community’s culture.
Ten years back, I was working as an officer on special duty (OSD) in a large government department in the state capital. We had washrooms for women, but there was no suffrage, no proper indicator or signboard. Often, I would discover men inside those toilets who had to be reminded that men and women are not supposed to use the same facility for relieving themselves.
That department was the most litigious, with too many court cases, and I primarily preoccupied myself with attending to court matters. One day, I was in a terrible hurry to send some urgent papers 
to court. As I hurriedly rushed to the ladies’ room, I found a man inside. Enraged by his lack of decency, I dragged him out of the toilet and gave him a tight slap. Minutes later, when the boss called me in to place the court papers, I informed him about the incident and requested that he ensure proper toilets for us ladies.
My soon-to-be-retired, elderly, wise boss was shocked to know that I had slapped a man. He expressed no concern for our toilets and asked me several times whether I was sure that I had slapped a man. His total lack of concern for our problem infuriated me so much that I told him, “Sir, I assure you I did slap a man found inside the ladies’ toilet. He violated my dignity. Further, I want to be transparent: this is not the first time this has happened. I am a history-sheeter!” One day, I found a security man inside the ladies’ toilet with his walkie-talkie. I locked the door from the outside. The locked-in man shouted for help, and maybe in frustration, he opened all the taps. I then took a Grade IV employee to open the door and found that the man had jumped out through the ventilator of the toilet.
One day, just before an urgent meeting, I went to the toilet and found the door locked from the inside. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I lost my patience because the door was still locked and the meeting was about to start. I thought, since these men always use the ladies’ toilets, why can’t I use the men’s toilets in an emergency? I slipped into the man’s toilet and locked it from inside, thinking I would be out within a few minutes. Within two minutes, someone started banging the door loudly and was shouting, “It must be some woman inside; otherwise, why would someone close the door?” The man started banging the door really loudly. I was horrified and rushed to the door, pressing against it in a desperate attempt to keep it from breaking. I felt such a shock thinking, if this lady’s toilet activism is discovered inside a male urinal, what could be more insulting! The frustrated man left, and I rushed out of the toilet. I promised myself never again to attempt misadventure.
Talking to several female colleagues, I learned that everyone is enduring the same crisis. So we drafted a toilet representation and had around 30 women officers sign it. Two colleagues and I placed it before an IAS officer. The man seemed very amused rather than being concerned.
The next day, my colleagues and I received locks with keys to keep the toilets locked. Instead of addressing our problem by arranging a proper display board indicating the ladies’ toilet and ensuring proper hygiene, the man entrusted the two toilet activists with the additional responsibility of acting as toilet guards.
Now, after ten years, the hygiene of the toilets has improved a lot, but the menace of male invasion continues. The reason is that common sense is not always common here. The tiny display boards are placed high above the door, and someone in an emergency might never look that high. Thus, these unpleasant encounters continue.
Some time back, I was on field duty during a religious event where lakhs of devotees gathered. I noticed the lady police constable was standing very awkwardly, as if she was having difficulty standing. I asked her, “Are you unwell?” She replied, “Madam, there are no toilets to go to for seven hours. I am feeling sick.” I felt very sad, realising her condition was so pathetic. I asked her to go to the nearby toilet, which was a little far away. I faced the same problem, and I went to a nearby house and almost forcibly entered their toilet, showing my identity card.
Many years ago, I was working in an online subdivision. One day, during a CRPC hearing, I had to go to the toilet. I discovered a man inside the ladies’ toilet. I locked the toilet from the outside and thought of informing the caretakers. Due to the presence of advocates and my preoccupation with the case, I forgot the issue. The next day, it suddenly struck me that I had locked someone inside the ladies’ 
toilet. I felt furious at my carelessness and rushed. I found the door open, with the lock displaced and hanging loosely. I felt great relief, felt ashamed of my stupidity, and thanked the man and the gods in heaven.
However, the most modern and futuristic urinals I noticed were in the Economics Department at Guwahati University, where I was a postgraduate student in the mid-1990s. All my classmates can testify to it and would agree. There was a single door to the toilets for ladies and gentlemen. Needless to say, we had many embarrassing, awkward moments, and quoting them here would reduce this to a different category of literature, one that could be classified as pornography.
A few days back, it happened again. I bumped into a man inside the ladies’ toilet, and I was about to lose my modesty. The man told me he had an urgent need and could not tell whether it was the man’s or the woman’s toilet. He seemed to be a grade IV employee from some far-flung place. I assured him that I understood his problem and that it was perfectly okay here. I asked him to pose for a snap, and he obliged with a smile. The ways of the world are strange, and we believe in being the strangest. So this time, my experiment is to capture a memory of such encounters. When we cannot stop a menace, we should make stories – that’s my latest philosophy.
In some parts of the world, women had to fight for women’s suffrage, or women’s right to vote. In 1881, the 
Isle of Man gave women who owned property the right to vote. That was the start, but today women can vote in every country. Maybe this country now needs a movement to bring about positive change and make everybody realise that women need clean, hygienic toilets everywhere, not just in airports.
Women never receive their dues without asking, at least in this country. Will it sound very odd if we start an agitation for a proper, proper, proper lady’s large toilet now? now? now? We live in a world where women may be raped or molested right after their birth, at any age. Dignity, decency, care, kindness, concern, and love need to be taught to the human race, and a movement for the right to pee would be a rude reminder to all where we stand today!
Jago (awake), India Jago; please avoid Bhago (run, abandon) from the basic issues, which actually deserve to be ignored. Let’s start with the fundamental issue: proper toilets everywhere, whether in our schools, colleges, offices, or public places. Maybe it will take forever to hope to live in a sensitised world. Let’s begin here and now.
©Hemashri Hazarika
Photos from the Internet
#RightToPee #WomenDignity #PublicToilets #IndianPublictoilets #RightToPeeForWomen #NoProperToiletsForWomen #Government #GovernanceGallimaufry #DifferentTruths
Hemashri Hazarika is an Officer of the Assam Civil Service since 1997. Her research on Assam Civil Service brought reforms in 2015. A first-class Postgraduate in Economics from Gauhati University, she was awarded JRF/NET by UGC in 1997. Her experience as a bureaucrat has sensitised her to human sufferings. A solutionist by passion, she takes an active interest in issues related to Governance, Development, Women, Children, etc. Reading, Writing, Speaking and Painting are her hobbies.
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Truly said.Even last 3 years I facing the same problems in office .Always there is a que for toilets even You are in hurry.I met so many days male persons in ladies toilets even there is written for ladies..I really wish we will get proper toilets for us as earliest for each Department..
Mam ..Its really appreciate that’s u writing about the most important trouble for all of us..Thanks a lots..!!