Not Above The Bucket

My brother Nick was digging around our house last time he was home, and found this picture, which he immediately made copies of and sent to me. It made me laugh out loud to see us crammed in those little buckets, but it also got me thinking about the role of the bucket bath in my life. I lived in India as a little girl, and my earliest memories of bathing look just like this picture. Even when I could no longer fit completely inside the bucket, nick and I learned to bathe ourselves by filling the bucket, lathering up, and using a scooping cup to pour water over our sudsy selves. When I moved to the states at 5 years old, the bucket became all but obsolete. I quickly grew accustomed to sitting in huge bathtubs filled with water, and soon enough learned the pleasures of a nice long shower.

Last summer, when I was couch-surfing in Bhalil, Morocco, I found myself face to face with the bucket once more. Irked that I didn’t make it to the Hammam in time for a “proper” bath, I washed my long hair in the bucket, growing more irritated every time I flipped my head over to pour water on the back of my neck. But then it occurred to me, “I grew up bathing in a bucket! When did I become such an arrogant bathing snob?” So I didn’t have a steady hot stream flowing down on me for ten to fifteen minutes (or sadly sometimes, even longer), I had a big bucket full of hot water, which was plenty to get me lathered and rinsed. I was ashamed at my own attitude towards the bucket bath, an activity in which I had once found immense joy. Thinking further on the matter, I was appalled when I thought of how much water I must use weekly in the bath or shower at home, without a second thought to how much energy it must take to heat it all.

Although my family in India have buckets in every bathroom, during my most recent trip (as well as most of my past visits) I opted for the western style shower… until there was a problem with the water heater and was forced back in to the bucket. This time though, I wasn’t so upset about it. Now, back in my Brooklyn apartment, the incessant shower pressure/temperature problems that my super hasn’t gotten around to fixing are enough to drive my roommates crazy and often keep them from bathing altogether. I guess it’s a blessing that I know how to bathe from the bucket, and I’m no longer above it.

A Breath Of Fresh Air

(Those aren't clouds in the background, they're mountains!!!)

I know I’ve been a little bit delinquent with my posts, but you’ll have to forgive me, I’ve been in India! Oops, I forgot to tell you I was going. I came to visit my grandparents in the foothills of the Himalayas and then to take them on a short beach vacation to Goa.

It’s always really intense coming back here, and seeing my grandparents living alone in the mountains always makes me emotional. I decided to take a hike in the mountains this morning to clear my head—up to China Peak, an 8,500 foot ascent at the top of which you can supposedly see China!

What can I say? There really is nothing like mountain air to clear the mind. Especially when the air up here is such a huge contrast to the air down in the plains where the big cities are. The air quality in Delhi and Mumbai is so bad, on smoggy days I can hardly see my hand stretched out in front of me, and my eyes, nose and throat get intolerably dry and itchy. It felt great to spend a little time away from the teeming humanity that sometimes seems literally inescapable in India.

Sadly enough, even at 8,500 ft. there was still litter strewn across the mountainside (granted it was cleaner and cleaner towards the top). My disgust at the total disregard for nature was replaced by sympathy after some consideration… in a developing country like India, people are struggling just to have food and clean water, the environment is just not a realistic concern at that point. Even the USA, which is literally decades ahead of India in terms of development, is only just getting smart about the environment and beginning to implement change. My dad told me it would be pointless, but I filled several bags with trash and brought them down anyway- if anything for my own peace of mind.

The complexity of such a beautiful and culturally rich place is only intensified by the contrast brought by globalization. Like every country in such a transitional time, conditions are rough and the environment gets compromised for the sake of “progress”. Hopefully, in time, the balance between industrial progress and social progress here will even itself out. Let’s hope it does, because the natural beauty of this place is too important to waste.