How do they drink water in India?

This is what it will look like:

Answer: There are a huge number of hotels in India, especially in resort towns and areas. IN coastal zone hotels are located no closer than 300 meters from the sea due to the tides; such hotels are of low height, most of them resemble palaces with luxurious rooms and varied services. There are many small private hotels in cities that will offer you a maximum overnight stay in normal conditions.

Travelers are divided into three categories:
1. For those who will never go to India
2. For those who have had enough
3. For those who cannot imagine life without this amazing country

Probably, this division can be applied to any place and state, but in relation to India it manifests itself very clearly. And this is understandable. If you go to India as you would to a European country - to see, relax, get full service, then most likely you will not get any of this. The exception is the state of Goa. You can read about this - a family who fell in love with this paradise and lived there for several seasons.

What is India anyway?

India evokes conflicting feelings. It is thoroughly imbued with traditions and faith. Moreover, there are many religious directions, which makes it surprisingly tolerant of completely distant and different cultures. Despite his ancient history, India is like an inquisitive child. Philosophy, culture, religious traditions attract romantically inclined travelers who want to immerse themselves in meditation, faith, and practical yoga classes.

In addition, the requirements for traveling to the country are very simple. It's easy to get a visa and rent accommodation. What scares and worries you?

First of all, there is garbage and dirt throughout almost the entire country. What we call unsanitary conditions. We will tell you more about the history of littering. This one is very special interesting topic.

From the carriage window

Another interesting topic is traffic. We talked about this in the article.

Preparing for your trip to India

I remember my preparations for India. I've heard a lot of things. What kind of diseases did they tell me about in India? And about amoebic dysentery, and about stomach disorders, and about terrible spicy food that you can’t put in your mouth - there’s so much pepper and spices in it. What frightened me most was an incomprehensible disease that covered the whole body with thick hairline. Just some kind of horror movie!

On the spot everything turned out to be simple and clear. There were no new discoveries.

There are diseases in India. Just like in any other country. And in order not to catch the infection, you just need to follow the usual hygiene rules:

1. Just wash your hands before eating.
2. You should just take antiseptic gel with you, because... There really are problems with water. AND climatic conditions favorable not only for tourists, but also for bacteria.
3. You just need to drink only bottled water, i.e. drinking water sold in bottles at every turn.
4. You just have to watch how they behave. local residents, what they do to avoid getting sick from some disease unknown to us. One of those “frightening” diseases of India, from which the whole body is covered with thick black long hair.

Every cloud has a silver lining, then you can set another record for the Guinness Book.

Ram Singh Chauhan has the longest mustache - 4 meters 27 centimeters

Today we will talk about how to drink water in India and how Indians drink water.

Please note that water is sold: in plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic bags. This is the type of water that is provided and sold on trains. In eateries, a jug of water is immediately placed on the table. Here you can decide for yourself whether to drink the water offered or use your own.

Unlike Russia and some European countries, in cafes and eateries in India you can drink your own water.
The Indians themselves have a very interesting way drink water: they drink without touching the neck of the bottle. When drinking water from a glass, often a metal container, they also do not touch the surface of the glass with their lips, but pour it directly into their open mouth.

It is especially important to take this tradition into account in temples and ashrams. In India, people drink a lot of water and often. A huge number of people gather in temples. And, of course, many are thirsty. Special people, usually female assistants, carry water in cups. The glass is shared. Holding it for a long time, sipping water, is not accepted - too many people wait for their turn.

So you can’t drink from a shared glass while touching your lips. This is a serious violation.

Most likely, the rule of drinking water without touching the dishes with your lips is dictated by sanitary standards. But perhaps there are religious justifications. Galya and I don’t know about this.

Watching Indians drink water from a bottle is very interesting: it’s a whole trick. It seems that water flows unhindered into the mouth, throat, stomach and ends up somewhere in the intestines. Straightaway. In large quantities.
On YouTube, Galya shows this trick - how they drink water in India.

There are a number of persistent myths about India. In this series of articles I will try to take the first steps - short review and analysis, but not the debunking of these ideas.

So, the first article in the series “myths about India”: what you need and what you don’t need to be afraid of in India in terms of possible infection through water.

Myth one: all the water in India is polluted and you can’t drink it.

In part, I am ready to confirm this statement. I do not recommend drinking tap water in India all the time and everywhere. It may well contain biological and chemical contaminants, but in quantities safe for healthy person. If you deliberately drink tap water in India or have it poured out for you to drink without asking, this does not mean that you will definitely get sick quickly. This will not happen in 99 percent of cases.

What could happen? What are the dangers of ordinary tap water in India? In general, it is the same as tap water in many other countries, for example in Russia. Of course, adjusted for the climate and the great neglect of the Indian “utilities”. With prolonged, repeated use, and especially with constant use, the likelihood of getting sick infectious disease will increase. At the same time, it will accumulate chemical pollution body harmful substances, which are contained in tap water in India, albeit in small but significant quantities. Ecological situation in this country it is simply catastrophic, soil and air pollution is record high.

It is completely safe to brush your teeth with this water, rinse your mouth, or perform other hygiene procedures. But I’ll make a reservation, if this water actually comes through central system water supply, and not pumped from some well on the territory of the house where you live.

So, tap water should not be a turn off for you in India. There is no need to urgently take antibiotics if you find out that in a restaurant, in response to your request for water after a spicy dish, they brought you regular tap water (this is usually done in most cases if you decide to drink water for free in a restaurant).

Don't save money! Bottled water is sold on every corner in India. It is inexpensive and often stored in refrigerators and tastes good. Here, running into a spill and getting poisoned is even less likely than when drinking tap water. Almost impossible.

What should we really be afraid of and why do many tourists still become infected with infectious diseases in India?

Everything is very simple. Most tourists go to Goa or other places in India to relax and lie by the ocean water in the sun. Whether in Goa or Kovalam-Varkala, enterprising people always set up cafes on the beaches for such people. And not only on the beaches, but also in any other place where there are many tourists. This is where the main danger awaits you.

The fact is that, as a rule, there is no central sewerage system there, but there is a so-called drainage sewerage system. That is, your glass with freshly squeezed juice and a straw was just washed in a basin in which 100,500 more glasses and plates were previously washed, and then wiped with a not-so-clean cloth. And before that, the fruit was also washed with water, which could well have been brought to the cafe not today or even yesterday - as I already said, there is no central water supply.

Bacteria multiply very quickly in the heat, and their number in “shake” water, which is used for washing dishes, fruits and other needs, increases exponentially.

What is the way out? The first and most difficult thing is to have good immunity and live in India for a long time in order to get sick more than once and gain resistance to local infections. Those who have been to India have probably seen how Indians count money - they slobber on their fingers and then leaf through the bills, the sight of which would not delight an infectious disease doctor. And what? Do you think they will get sick? Most likely, the bills will get wet and tear!

Another way out and, from my point of view, the most correct one is to stay away from such shakes and cafes unless you personally know their owners and are not convinced that they have normal sewerage and water supply. Otherwise, unfortunately, it is simply impossible to ensure normal hygiene in the heat, no matter what the owners of such establishments tell you.

Another point is subtle and concerns spiritually aspiring people and those close to them. It's about about bathing in holy rivers, ponds and other places of water enlightenment, as well as cleansing drinking water from these sources. I won’t talk about this for a long time, so as not to hurt anyone’s religious feelings, I’ll just hint that if you are not a level 108 meditator monk, then take communion with water from a river into which you just threw a bag of garbage (lots of bags) and into which all the sewage of the local town flows is still not worth it. Well, or get ready to “cleanse your bad karma.”

I don’t intend to talk about the ice in glasses with expensive drinks in Indian restaurants - there are only a few casualties here. There’s no point in showing off when there are so many slums around!

In the next article we will continue the conversation about “Indian myths” and touch on the topic food poisoning, super-spicy foods, fried baked goods, widespread Indian vegetarianism, etc. In a word, let's talk about the stereotypes of Europeans associated with Indian food.

June 22 - “News. Economy" India is experiencing the worst water supply crisis in history: about 600 million people face water shortages every day, the government says think tank. in the report National Institute Transforming India (Niti Aayog), which draws on statistics from 24 of the 29 states in the world's second most populous country, emphasizes that the crisis will only get worse in the coming years. The study authors also warn that with demand steadily increasing, 21 Indian cities are likely to run out of groundwater by 2020. All this threatens the country's food security, since 80% of water is used in agriculture, notes the British BBC television channel.

India Water Sufficiency Map

Indian cities and small towns regularly go without water summer time year because there is not enough infrastructure to deliver piped water to every home. Rural areas are also seriously affected by lack of access to clean water (84% of households do not have piped water). They cannot rely on groundwater due to infrequent rainfall and the fact that groundwater is increasingly being used for agriculture when monsoon rains delayed or short-lived. According to the report, about 200 thousand Indians die every year due to lack of access to clean water. Many end up relying on private water suppliers or paid tanker trucks. local authorities. Long queues of people with cans waiting for drinking water at a tanker or public pump are a common sight in India. As populations in metropolitan areas increase, pressure on urban water resources is only expected to increase. According to expert forecasts, by 2030 demand will exceed supply by more than twice. Water shortage will also lead to a loss of 6% of gross internal product(GDP) of India. Some Indian states, however, show more effective work in providing water to the population than other regions. Thus, Gujarat, in the west of the country, tops the list of the most successful states in this area. It is followed by Madhya Pradesh (central India) and Andhra Pradesh ( South part). Fifteen of the 24 states improved their performance compared to last year, leading the report's authors to conclude that ∎governance water resources is improving∎. However, it remains worrying that the lowest ranked states (Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in the north, or Bihar and Jharkhand in the east) are home to almost half of India's population. These states also produce the bulk of the country's agricultural output. Another problem is the lack of accurate data on how much water is consumed by households and various sectors of the economy, the study authors conclude.

"Russia will help India in solving water problems," BC "POISK", tell friends: May 21st, 2017