Our Bathroom

Indian bathrooms... they sort of look like ours, but really aren't. Like most homes in India, our bathroom opens up to the bedroom. You'd really be hard pressed to find a home where it's located in a hallway or living room.
So... this is a picture of our bathroom. I quite like it. It's roomy, comes with several attractive features, and since it was built a few years ago it's still very neat & clean. Notice the fan at the top, it blows directly outside. This wouldn't be possible in Montreal because of our winters, but when that thing runs you actually can feel a current of air passing thru... no more burning matches or lighting candles :)

You may have also noticed that there's no tub. Unfortunately, New Delhi, being next to a desert and ridiculously overcrowded has a serious water shortage problem. As a result, tubs are not common.

Since electricity is also scarce, all bathrooms have separate hot water tanks which are turned on only shortly before showering (most homes have back-up generators because power shortages occur on a regular basis).

The city water supply has no pressure, and I suspect is also very unreliable, so most homes simply pump the water (when it's available) into a large reservoir tank on the roof. Seems like a simple solution... except... by mid-afternoon in 40+ degree weather that water becomes unpleasantly hot. I discovered all this last Sunday when taking an afternoon shower....

If you pay close attention to the toilet itself you'll see the bathroom's best feature. There's a small water jet on the back side. That's right... you can wash your bottom without even getting up.

And finally there's the large bucket. A very common bathroom item used for bathing. Yup, you fill it up and using the smaller bucket to pour you wash yourself. Great way to save water!