Fancy bidets are one thing, but look at eco-friendly Indian options too

It may be germane to inquire if toilets figured on the agenda of the already extensive talks between the Indian and Japanese prime ministers.

A civil nuclear deal and bullet trains may have been on top of the list, but India cannot overlook Japanese expertise in sanitation, driven by an obsession about personal and public hygiene that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would heartily approve of.

On the other hand, India’s expertise in low-cost, low-tech loo tech cannot also be sniffed at by the Japanese. More so since India could possibly provide a solution to a looming crisis that is agitating the Japanese: a possible nationwide shortage of toilet paper. As most local supplies of this ablution essential come from the very earthquake-prone Shizuoka area, aam Japanese have been urged to stockpile toilet rolls in addition to food and medical supplies, as part of a Disaster Prevention Day campaign this week.

Flush with this new bonhomie, the Indian side should apprise the Japanese of the usefulness of a long-nozzled ‘lota’ or, better still, the technologically more advanced ‘hand shower’ placed beside the commode, to do the needful. Either can accomplish the task for a fraction of the ecological implication of a six-roll pack of 150-m-long toilet paper that a Japanese family is being advised to stock up for a month.