Sri Radha Govinda Dasi (my wife), Isvara Puri Maharaja Prabhu (my loyal Godbrother), and yours truly happened to visit a devotee family somewhere in North Mexico (this entry purports to address the universal issue of excretory apparatuses and not to point fingers at particular individuals; therefore I avoid mentioning any other name, of locality or person).
The building has some unofficial affectation at officially representing ISKCON in town, and we were shocked to observe some of the incongruities in appearance and accommodation, towering among them the inappropriateness of the bathroom facilities.
The toilet ("Western style") includes neither a seat-cover nor a cover for the water container; thus offering a painful experience laced with a sense of dirtiness and discomfort and general. I won't focus on other aspects of the toilet, such as randomly stored odds and ends, the licking sink (washing your mouth is automatically linked to having the dirty water sprinkled on your feet), the poorly working shower spout, the broken window, and the tension-provoking lack of possibility to lock the door from the inside.
The condition of the toilet, paired with a number of other anomalies and inconsistencies throughout the building, inspired me to offer my wife that we shift to a hotel for the remaining days of our stay in the town. She declined saying that our hosts would feel bad had we left her place.
I attempted to tactfully bring up the various unfitting arrangement during a Bhagavatam class, towards the end of our stay. I hinted at the fact that we were there since a few days, but that our hosts never asked us what they could improve. The lady obliged and asked, "please tell me what could we improve."
I slowly made my way (figuratively) towards the toilet, mentioning the absence of the toilet seat. The lady of the house promptly pointed out: "Oh, for Mexico is OK!" I felt surprised. I was already in Mexico since a couple of months and my visits to different public and private sanitary facilities convinced me that the standard of this particular toilet is *not* OK for Mexico.
I restarted pleading on a different note: "You see, Mataji, if a woman from a good family--or from any family--visits this temple and uses the toilet, she would feel very uncomfortable in having to use that seat-less seat. It might be a lightly traumatic experience and might prevent her from coming back again."
Pensively, the lady of the house conceded, admitting that I had a point; but promptly retorted, with a mixture of finality and victory in her voice: "Yes, but we don't have money now!"
I had a long list of items to diplomatically and sensitively bring to their attention, but this reaction persuaded me to forget about the list. I changed the subject and quickly ended the talk.
The situation was all the more puzzling for me considering that this couple has aspirations to preach to the high-class people of their city. In my mind I could not reconcile their high talks of a new style of approach to the upper levels of the social scene with the distressingly inadequate toilet and other facilities.
A few days later I happened to visit a nearby Wal-mart. We found toilet seats available for about 4 US dollars. Considering that the couple had offered us more than 100 dollars for helping with the travel costs, the objection of not having money to buy a toilet-seat revealed itself completely baseless; it was simply a striking reminder that they were unwilling or incapable to connect with what the guests had to endure in the lavatory.
A prayer to all readers: When arranging the toilet you invite guests into, please do not confine yourself to the basic dictionary definition: "a sanitary installation for receiving and disposing of urine and faeces, consisting of a bowl fitted with a water-flushing device and connected to a drain." Kindly consider the whole experience your guests would undergo.
While leaving the place of the horrific bathroom we left a donation to reciprocate with their generous supply of prasadam. But I felt compelled to mention to the lady of house: "With this, please buy also a toilet seat."
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