culture
Citizens of Russia are ranked third in the world among the cleanest and most tidy countries after Indians and Americans.
Most Russians (35 percent) take a shower or bath every day, 11 percent of Russian citizens take a shower twice a day. Residents of Europe have long abandoned the medieval habit of swimming twice in a lifetime. However, they still prefer not to shower too often. British and Germans bathe twice a week.
Ecologists say that the habit of taking a shower or bath every day can lead to an ecological disaster, as the planet will run out of fresh water very quickly. Muscovites are the most clean people Russia, although it's hard to believe after a trip to the subway. 55 percent of Muscovites take a shower every day, 18 percent of them wash twice a day. A recent survey showed that on average, one bathing session lasts about 20 minutes.
The average citizen of Russia is also getting cleaner. About 35 percent of Russians bathe daily, even during the summer, when access to hot water is closed in many cities and villages due to planned work. Only 19 percent of Russians take a shower once a week, but these are mostly rural residents who have no water at all in their homes.
The average American showers twice a day, a sacred ritual in the US. A person who does not bathe or change their underwear is considered an outcast in the US.
Experts say Russians have developed a passion for cleanliness through TV shows, movies, books and other popular culture items that actively emulate the American way of life.
Hindus are the purest nation in the world. They wash their hands and body twice as often as Germans and 1.5 times as often as Americans. A Hindu will always go to the bathroom after sneezing, touching an animal, or going to the toilet. This purity is justified in India, because in this country the most favorable conditions for the spread of intestinal infections. Therefore, a piece of soap in the hands is best defense from infections in India.
Experts say that modern countries develop a love of cleanliness because they do not know the value of fresh water. Such a passion in Russia can really lead to an ecological catastrophe. A very large number of residential buildings in Russia do not have meters for hot and cold water, people pay a fixed amount no matter how much water they use.
It should be borne in mind that a regular shower takes 50 liters of water, while a bath requires 120 liters. Such a habit looks like madness against the backdrop of an acute shortage of fresh water in the world. Unlike Europeans, Russians do not even try to save water.
About garbage mountains, stinking sewers and cleanliness of body and home of Indians
Realnoe Vremya's regular contributor Natalia Fedorova continues to talk about her experience of getting to know the culture and customs of India. Today's column is about the first thing that catches the eye of a refined Western tourist who comes to this country. About garbage and dirt.
About mountains of rubbish and sewers
In large cities in India, they are trying to get rid of garbage in a Western way, that is, they are taking heaps of non-degradable plastic to the outskirts. But even in cities, the farther from the center, the more you will see a lot of garbage lying right on the streets. Garbage bins are extremely rare here. Indians can throw banana peels, wrappers and bags right on the lawn. Moreover, they will not be fined for this, as in a European city. Here, this problem is solved with the help of special people, cleaners, who walk the streets and collect scattered garbage in large bags. This is also becoming a way of earning money for the poor and children: they collect plastic bottles on the streets and at railway stations and hand them over for a penny for recycling.
But urban outskirts, towns and villages, as densely populated as many Western cities, are literally buried in garbage. Cans, bottles, plastic bags form heaps in which monkeys, stray cows, dogs and pigs rummage. About the consequences for the health of poor animals this leads to in one of my previous sketches.
The problem of household waste, one of the main ones for our planet today, is hidden from the eyes of most people in Western cities. But India has not yet learned to hide the dead end that civilization has reached, unable to cope with the abundance of garbage. Although, in fairness, it must be said that the Indians are taking the first steps: they are increasingly using paper dishes instead of plastic, non-woven bags instead of plastic bags.
India has not yet learned to hide the dead end that civilization has reached, unable to cope with the abundance of garbage
Along the edges of the narrow streets, sewers flow in stone recesses. They exude an unforgettable aroma, especially in the heat. This is not only slop, but also feces - the sewerage system in many Indian cities leaves much to be desired.
Here it is difficult to forget that the human body itself is quite, shall we say, physiological. I immediately recall a story told to me in an Indian family. It's called Liquid Beauty. To a very young beautiful girl a wealthy merchant engaged. She did not want to marry him, but the suitor, struck by her beauty, was extremely persistent. And then she asked him to come for an answer in a week. All this time she drank a laxative and poured everything that came out of her into barrels in the courtyard of the house. When the groom returned a week later, he could not recognize his bride in the emaciated and emaciated girl. "Where is the beauty that I fell in love with?" - he asked. “Here is all the beauty that you were carried away by,” the girl answered and took him to the barrels standing in the yard.
Difficulties in adaptation
Later, I was told why the Indians can never comprehend the value of garbage cans and throw plastic and other rubbish everywhere. The reason is that until quite recently India was a predominantly agrarian country, consisting of a large number of villages and villages, in which life proceeded far from cities and without communication with them. Rural residents used brass and copper utensils for their daily needs, which were inherited and did not require replacement, and for eating - no china or plastic, only disposable utensils made of clay and banana leaves. Until now, this tradition is preserved in many places. In almost any small town, you can buy sweet lassi in an earthenware cup that keeps the drink cool for a long time. At any roadside cafe, you can get your “thali” (a standard Indian lunch consisting of a pile of boiled rice and many small plates of stewed vegetables, sauces and sweet snacks) on a large wide plate of banana leaves. You can use a spoon, or you can, as most Indians do, eat with your hands, saving on cutlery as well. At the same time, banana leaves, when hot food is placed on them, release substances useful for the human body. It is clear that such plates can be thrown away anywhere, they quickly decompose and do not harm the environment.
With the same ease, many illiterate naive Indians still treat plastic utensils that came to their country not so long ago, not realizing that it will decompose for thousands of years and pollute their water and soil.
Rural residents used brass and copper utensils for their daily needs, which were inherited and did not require replacement.
A similar reason for the existence of "fragrant" gutters. Formerly rural Indians did not have their toilets in the village. According to Vedic traditions, this defiles the area and makes it unfit for worshiping God. Residents went to relieve themselves in the field, away from the village. As Western influence increased, such behavior came to be considered uncivilized, and more and more Indians place toilets in the village for their own convenience. These latrines are a fenced depression in the ground. Well, the sewers are the result of a not very close and long acquaintance of the Indians with the sewerage system.
God will not come to a dirty house
But do not immediately blame the Indians for uncleanliness. I will now say the exact opposite thing: at its core, Indian culture is the cleanest in the world, and Indologist historians will confirm my words. The problem is that to this day it has survived only in educated families and individual villages, where people still honor their traditions. Strict rules of purity are given in the scriptures and passed down from generation to generation. We, who grew up in Russia, may not understand the abundance of various restrictions, but their purpose is as follows: by maintaining the physical purity of the body, at home, and so on, a person gets the opportunity to cleanse himself mentally and spiritually. Hindus say that in a dirty house the Lord will never come, while in a clean house he is always present. The same applies to the body.
So let me share some of the cleanliness rules that Indians follow. Traditionally, they perform a full body wash several times during the day: in the morning immediately after waking up, in the afternoon and evening, as well as after bowel movements. Whether it's winter outside or summer. In the villages, there are wells for this, both for public use and for private use - in the courtyards of houses. They take bath, watering themselves from a bucket, in clothes, which are then immediately removed, rinsed and changed into clean and dry clothes.
The floor in the house is washed every day: in the morning and also before cooking and after eating. There is a whole set of instructions on how to keep cleanliness while cooking. I saw with my own eyes how all these prescriptions are followed in Indian families, and I learned it myself. The fact is that religious Indians will never eat food that has not been offered to the Lord before. The altar is an important part of every home. And in order to offer food on the altar, it must be clean. Therefore, the kitchen in the house is a sacred place. It is separated from the dining room, no one tastes the food during cooking, the dishes must be very clean, and it is out of the question for animals to enter the house.
There is a whole set of instructions on how to keep cleanliness while cooking.
They put on clean clothes every day, because yesterday's clothes are considered defiled. The same applies to towels: here they are wiped with gamcha, a thin cotton cloth that is rinsed after each bath and dries quickly in the sun.
Another interesting point: you need to drink water without touching the glass with your lips, but throwing your head back and directing the jet into your mouth. After some time living in India, I learned to do what even children here can do without spilling all the water on themselves. I must say that this not only protects against infectious diseases, but also looks aristocratic. As for water, in no other country in the world you will see taps with water located at almost every step. Yes, right in the middle of the street in the city you can see a sink and a tap with water, drinking or just for washing hands, adjoining the wall, and sometimes a lower tap for washing feet. This phenomenon is connected not only with the need to wash hands frequently in tropical countries where a variety of diseases are spreading, but also with another rule of cleanliness in India: after any meal, you must rinse your mouth, otherwise a person is considered defiled and cannot enter the temple and touch clean items. However, any dentist will confirm the benefits of rinsing your mouth after eating.
This and other rules of purity are especially followed in the educated part of society - among the Brahmins. Education in Indian culture was not considered the prerogative of only urban educational institutions, an educated person is one who is versed in the sacred scriptures, knows Sanskrit and leads a clean and simple life, not complicated by unnecessary conveniences. Such people in India are revered and even considered saints, people come to them for advice and blessings.
For those who want to learn more about the everyday side of Indian life, I recommend reading Bhakti Vikashi Swami's fascinating book A View of Traditional India, which consists of interviews by an Englishman with people who grew up in traditional Indian families. It was written in popular science language in the 1990s. When I read it, I understood a lot about the mentality of the Indians and their culture. For example, I learned the following details about life in Bengali villages: “Drinking water while holding a glass in the left hand is considered inappropriate, since it is customary to do something inauspicious or impure with the left hand (for example, to wash), while the right hand serves for everything clean and favorable. Therefore, giving or taking with the left hand is considered an insult.”
Religious people who believe in the spiritual reality more than in their transitory life do not pursue success, money and entertainment. Photo by Indradyumna Swami
Causes of degradation
What happened? Why is this wise culture so degraded nowadays? All from the same book, and later from the Indians themselves, I learned that it all started in the 20th century, when the country headed for industrialization. This idea was also present during the British colonization, but later, having achieved independence, India did not want to be among the lagging countries of the world and very soon built a huge number of plants and factories around the country.
The predominantly rural calm and measured life of the Indians hindered economic progress. Adherence to traditions did not allow the introduction of new methods of tillage, harvesting. Religious people who believe in the spiritual reality more than in their transitory life do not pursue success, money and entertainment. Therefore, it was necessary to kindle a passion for profit in them, which radio and television successfully coped with.
Brahminical culture, which was the stronghold ancient culture, and was badly damaged. Brahmin children do not continue the work of their fathers and grandfathers, they go to study at city colleges, and then to the USA and the United Arab Emirates, they become good IT specialists due to their natural mind. As elsewhere in the world, India has yet to comprehend what its culture and ecology has lost due to technological progress.
Natalia Fedorova, photo by Ananta Vrindavan
Residents of Russia took one of the first places in the world in terms of cleanliness, second only to Indians and Americans. According to sociologists, the majority (35%) of Russians take a shower or bath every day, and 11% of our compatriots at least twice a day. Europeans have long abandoned the medieval habit of washing twice in their lives, but still avoid showering too often. On average, the British and Germans bathe twice a week. Ecologists say that the habit of frequent washing can lead to an environmental catastrophe - the world's clean water reserves are being depleted at a catastrophic rate. After a trip in the metropolitan metro during rush hour, this is hard to believe, but here's the fact - Muscovites are the most clean people in the country. 55% of them wash daily, and 18% more than twice a day. Moreover, bathing takes at least 20 minutes a day, according to Novye Izvestia, data from a study conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation. The average resident of Russia is becoming more and more clean. According to the FOM, 35% of the inhabitants of our country wash themselves every day, even when the hot water is turned off - they go to the bathhouse, heat the water in the basin, use the column and invite themselves to visit friends who have water heaters. Once a week, only 19% of the inhabitants of our country enter the shower - these are mainly rural residents who do not have running water.
The British and Germans bathe no more than a couple of times a week. For Americans, taking a shower twice a day is a mandatory ritual. A person who has not washed for two days, has not changed his underwear or shirt, is considered marginal in the United States. According to hygienists, the passion of Russians for bathing is explained by a change in our mentality: through TV shows, films, books and other objects of mass culture, the American way of life and all the habits of US residents are actively adopted, including frequent washing. The cleanest nation, however, is not the Americans, but the Indians. They wash their bodies and hands twice as often as Germans and one and a half times as often as Americans. Hindus go to the bath and after sneezing, and after contact with a pet, and after going to the toilet, and always before eating. However, in India, such cleanliness is fully justified: intestinal infections are raging in the country, the best defense against which is soap in your hands.
Experts are convinced that we love to shower so often because we do not know the price of water, and the Russians' passion for bathing is leading to an environmental disaster. Meters in Russia, unlike Europe, are still only in a few houses, while most Russians pay for water at an "unlimited rate." Meanwhile, in order to take a shower, on average, about 50 liters of water are required, and a bath - 120. Against the backdrop of a global shortage of water resources, the habits of Russians look like insane wastefulness - unlike Europeans, we do not even try to save water. True, experts give an economic explanation for this: We spend about 135 billion rubles a year on the collection, purification and distribution of water. The paradox of our system is that with an increase in this figure, our GDP increases. In fact, the current economic model in our country is not interested in reducing water consumption.
Korney Chukovsky's poem about Moidodyr we all remember from childhood, it ends with life-affirming verses: "Both in the bath and in the bath, Always and everywhere - Eternal glory to water!" But the Bergdams - residents of a distant African tribe - clearly would not appreciate the skill of the poet. In their opinion, bathing can bring misfortune, so these people avoid any bathing procedures in every possible way. How the dirtiest people on our planet live, read in the review ...
Bergdams are nicknamed "black people", and this is not surprising: they have blue-black skin, and on top of it you can often see a dense layer of dirt. Why the fear of water is so deeply rooted in their culture is not clear. In addition, the representatives of this tribe cannot be called absolute filthy - they carefully take care of the whiteness of their teeth, constantly cleaning them with a piece of leather and special wooden brushes.
Truth. They fail to keep a Hollywood smile for a long time: bergdams often eat rough food (roots or insects), their teeth wear down quickly. As soon as the tooth becomes “unusable”, the healer knocks it out with an ordinary stick, which is driven under the tooth into the gum.
The main value in the Bergdama settlement is the sacred fire. Only men have the right to approach it, the elders light the fire after a special ritual. The main deity for the Bergdama tribe is Kamabu, the god of the sun. Sorcerers turn to him, asking for good luck in hunting, as well as “consulting” about the health of the tribe members.
The fact is that when the representatives of the tribe have symptoms of the disease, they go to the sorcerer-sorcerer. He, guided by the prompts of the sun god, delivers a verdict: if the disease is fatal, then no one will take care of the victim, it is believed that he must die alone. If the cleaver receives a sign that this is only a test, then he will perform a healing rite. To do this, he collects the “disease” from the human body in one place, and then cauterizes, often the worst scars remain on the patient’s body.
An important stage in the life of a bergdama is the rite of initiation. Girls are considered adults when they develop mammary glands. Up to this point, the girl is forbidden to eat the food that women eat. For initiation, incisions are made above the chest, sprinkled with products crushed into flour and wait for the wounds to heal. With the advent of the first menstrual cycle the tribe performs a ritual sacrifice of a goat, and the girl is instructed not to have sex before marriage.
The rite of initiation for young men is of a group nature. To be considered a man, they must go hunting for two days in a row, the first prey is eaten by fellow tribesmen (the young men are left with nothing), and they can already start the second meal on an equal basis with everyone else.
It is also worth mentioning the ritual actions on the occasion of the birth of a child. When a child is born, his father must roast a piece of meat on a fire, grease his skin, roll up the dirt and collect it in a leather bag. This is how an amulet for a baby is prepared. The father of the newborn hangs a bag around the baby's neck, while he spits on his chest, rubs the spit and calls the new little man by name.
The tribe has an even more terrifying tradition associated with the birth of children. If twins are born, this is akin to a curse, in order to get rid of it, you need to carry out the ceremony of burying one of the two babies alive.
The amazing Bergdam tribe is considered underdeveloped and lives in the Kalahari Desert. Ethnographers suggest that it is in danger of extinction. Unfortunately, there are many such nationalities that may disappear from the face of the Earth in the foreseeable future.
