Toilets on a roll once again in India

Despite a current commercial implying that a Russian oligarch’s wife is willing to patch up and forgo an alimony that includes vast properties and a football team for the lure of his top-of-the-line toilet, this bathroom staple is obviously not totally irresistible per se.

That India’s defence ministry was not bowled over by the proposal by the union ministry of sanitation to show off a giant toilet as part of the forthcoming Republic Day parade proves the point. However, the issue cannot be simply flushed away as a country is now known by the toilet it keeps.

A case in point is Japan, where these are actually a selling point for inbound travellers, and top brands have become cult buys internationally.

Pissoirs, however, do not have a great reputation in France, whose president will be chief guest at this year’s Rajpath event. Showcasing India’s advances in the field—or, more relevantly, from the field—may therefore be quite germane.

It is heartening that the rebuffed ministry did not wash its hands of the matter entirely and a-commode-ated the nodal ministry’s concerns, and will be presenting a sanitized version of its commendable project.

As India has the distinction of having the world’s oldest lavatory – at Lothal in Gujarat – it behoves this country to demonstrate to the world that toilets are on a roll again here.