Jan 31, 2011
How to keep people from peeing on the wall
Apparently, in Mumbai there’s a practice of placing tiles with iconic images from different religions at knee-height along exterior walls. This deters men from relieving themselves there, because their reverence outweighs their heavy bladders and prevents them from micturating on or near a sacred face…
I have not been to India, so I’m taking the word of the photographer who took these pictures…
Have any of you observed this custom or any like it?
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I’m pretty sure you mean, “keep people from peeing . . .,” not “for.”
Oops. Thanks…
When I read this title in my google reader I thought the post was going to be about facebook.
People would really pee on random public walls? Wow, that’s culture shock.
I see people peeing on random walls and streets near my flat in Edinburgh on any given night. I suspect religious images wouldn’t make much difference here though.
Yes, it’s very common in India.
Apparently you have never been to New Orleans. My 2 year old isnt allowed near the walls! I actually walked out and saw a guy peeing on my car bumper once. It really is true that the quarter smells like urine and vomit. But i love it with all of my heart :)
Given the variety, wouldn’t that just make public pee-ers more discerning about which tile they pee on?
It wouldn’t matter much if there were a religious symbol, Christian or otherwise, to keep me from peeing on a wall. I have something else that keeps me from doing that, like a conscience, moral fiber, and scruples.
JD
I saw those all over India, but I didn’t know they were for anything but decoration. I also saw millions of people peeing everywhere…ever.y.where. If a person doesn’t like a particular god it might cause them to make it rain a little more frequently.
Seriously? I don’t mean to be all it’s-the-American-way-or-the-highway, but that’s just gross!
Indian culture is very interesting in that the concept of cleanliness is the exact opposite of ours. They aren’t concerned about how clean their public places are, but their personal cleanliness puts us to shame. They think its gross that we’ll go out in public in T-shirts or don’t brush our teeth after every meal. Both cultures have their own pros & cons. :)
Closest I’ve seen are “Welcome to our OOL” signs, which are not so much a deterrent as just a request.
My friends in Trinidad (which has lots of Indian influences) have a little more straightforward way of telling people not to pee on the wall.
http://twitpic.com/3v8d9a
I lived in India and saw this very thing. I have pictures of many of Jesus’ parables painted on the walls along the dusty roads. All of them at 4feet and below. Interesting motivation.
Wouldn’t some of the pictures actually encourage people to urinate on them?
so does the saying “Cleanliness is next to godliness” came from India? =b
I suppose you folk are not acquainted with the King James Bible.
In Kings and a couple of other places, a man is defined as “he that pisseth against a wall.” Modern versions are more genteel.
Yes, I saw it in India.
Because so many men would urinate on the cathédrale de St Katherine in Bruxelles they (the city or the church, I do not know which) installed urinals right on the side.
In the Philippines (Manila specifically) they place little metal cutouts with tubes into the ground along the street for men to pee in. No religious articles to keep them from peeing, but they put little urinals up around town. It’s funny because you can see the person from the shoulders up and from the knees down…not much privacy, heh.