what i learned going to the bathroom this morning

Going to the bathroom at 6 am here in Bombay is a little different than back at home. In Dallas, I'd roll out of bed and walk about 10 feet into my bathroom. This morning was a little different.

Even though we had the windows open and the fan on all night, our room was warm--probably about 80 degrees. When I woke up at 6 this morning, i realized that it would probably be a good idea to visit the little girls' room. Not quite awake yet, I tried to remember all the items that I needed to take with me. The water is still off on our floor, so in addition to taking my toilet paper with me, I also grabbed a the blue plastic bucket of water which i had filled from our reserve tanks. I unlatched the sliding lock on our door, and was greeted by the cool, quiet sounds of a Mumbai morning. Usually, a cacophony of horns fills the air, but for a few hours in the middle of the night, you can actually hear engines or brakes and not just horns. I step onto the balcony and notice that the air outside is cooler than in our room, so that's refreshing. It faintly smells like smoke. I can't tell if it's the smoke from an early-morning breakfast wood fire, or if it's incense, but the musky smell fills the air. I go down the hall and unlatch the metal cage door that keeps the pigeons out of the potty area. Stepping up on the concrete landing, i open the door to the western toilet stall. I pour the bucket of water into the tank, set the bucket back out in the common area and go in the stall. while I'm in there, i hear the metal gate opening--who else could be up at this hour?? After I'm done, i open the gate and am greeted by a nice indian woman in a sari. She, too, has a bucket and is filling her tank as well. It's six a.m. the city is still sleeping and yet she and I, who at first glance may appear to have very little in common, when it boils down to it, have the same basic needs.

I've noticed that basic sameness in other areas too-- men here wash and wax their cars, mothers hold their children's hands while crossing the street, preteen girls are shy and scared of standing out in a crowd, little boys love to play sports. People love to start the day with coffee and tea--whether it's from starbucks or purchased from the spice stand on the corner. No matter what color your skin and hair start out when you're young, skin will wrinkle and hair will grey. Mark Twain said that "Travel is the enemy of prejudice." How true that is.