People usually don't display eagerness to visit a toilet, much less spending time there. One uses it when one needs to. A dialogue from the movie 'Godfather' describes it best - "You gotta go! You gotta go!" As I write the dialogue, I get the feeling it does not sound the way it is supposed to. That's not surprising! It has to be heard as it is mentioned in the movie, only then does it make sense. But the dialogue become understandable when I expand it, I mean add more words to it. Then it sounds as follows. "If you want to go, you should go". Here go could mean going to the toilet or doing what one has to do in the toilet. But, as I read the expanded version of the dialogue, I see that it does not have the feel that the words had when it was uttered by a character in the movie. It does not have the effect "you gotta go! You gotta go" has. It's probably for that reason that the dialogue appears in the shorter form in the movie.
I have digressed. As David Coverdale sings 'here I go again on my own..."
I don't like the toilet at school. I don't know why! I just don't like it. I will not delve into this matter for I think it will be a waste. Only when I am stuck in a meeting do I think of the toilet fondly. I make it a matter not to visit it at the beginning of the meeting. That way, I can go the toilet when the discussions in the meeting become dull and repetetive. This actually happens within the first thirty minutes of the meeting but I hold my patience till 75% of the meeting is complete. Of course, the process of taking a loo break from the meeting has to be done carefully; only your near and dear friends should realize that I am actually taking a break from the meeting. The others should feel that I am disappointed to leave the meeting. To achieve this effect, five minutes prior to my planned break, I lean forward to look at the speaker intently. Sometimes, I actually listen to what the person is saying. If the topic of discussion is a serious one, I hold the tip of my pen between my teeth and increase the intensity of my look. Fifteen seconds prior to the planned departure, I sit back, close my eyes and shake my head faintly for ten seconds. Next, I get up from my seat slowly while looking at the speaker keenly. Then, I turn and walk away. Most times, I control my urge to pump my fist in joy.
The toilet is considered an haven from the mundaness of life by many. Almost in every class, at around the half way mark a child would walk up to the teacher and say "bathroom". This child will usually be one of the children who utters this word to every teacher at around the halfway mark of their session. Depending on his/her mood, the teacher would either let him/her go or try to dissuade the child to get back to his/her seat. But at most times, the child is deteremined to take a break and stands his/her ground. At the end of half a minute of stand-off the teacher usually waves ths child off in the direction of the door. The child happily walks away. When he/she returns from the 'bathroom' is dependent on a number of factors, viz., the teacher's temper, the subject, the topic being discussed, the side of bed the child chose to get out of in the morning, the time of sunrise, the probability of an ant finding a cube of sugar in the football field, ... The list is long. If it was to be put on paper, it would be longer than 'The Suitable Boy'. Note: Though I am at a risk of being labelled a sexist, I record here that the child, in most cases, is a boy. I mean, the first child to ask to a 'bathroom' break is usually a boy.
For reason not known to mankind, the word toilet is only used as sign boards in public places. In private places, there exists a taboo against the use of word 'toilet'. No one really uses it, I mean the word and not the toilet itself. Instead, the word 'bathroom' is used. Toilets being a part of the bathroom is a recent occurence and yet, the toilet is referred to as bathroom even when the facility to take a bath is not available in most toilets. For example, a child requesting to go to the 'bathroom' in between the class, has no means to take bath in the 'bathroom' even if he/she wishes to. So why refer it to as 'bathroom'? With the rising popularity of the American culture, the toilet is referred by many to as 'restroom' . I do this and am trying to break out of this habit. I checked the dictionary and the following is the meaning of the word 'restroom'.
1. a room in a public building for people to relax or recover in.
British
2. a toilet in a public building.
North American
Note: For the next few lines, I only write about boys.
The boys in the school, have taken the definition of 'restroom' a step further by combining the British and American definitions. For them, the definition of 'restroom' reads thus.
a toilet in a school for the students where students are also allowed relax or recover.
School boys
Toilets are places that can and should only be placed at hidden locations. As a result, anyone who is new to a place, has no choice but ask to someone who is familiar with the place "Where's the toilet/bathroom/restroom?". This question is usually a matter of pride for the latter. He/She stands erect and goes on to give the precise directions in detail "Go straight then take the second left, walk 1.32 m before taking a right and then walk through the dark tunnel. You wade through the stream at the end of the tunnel, climb the rock on the other bank. The toilet is on top of that rock". While speaking these words, the person giving the directions moves one of his hands so that the listener can understand clearly the direction refered to when he/she say left or right. These actions are done with such finesse that an observer would be reminded of Brucelee's words "Be like water...". A recent study has found that in 99% of the cases people do not get lost while following the direction to a restroom/toilet/bathroom. Yet, when following directions on the road, the success rate is reduced to a mere 1%. The human brain is a wonderful creature.
"Here I go on again on my own..."
The above paragraph should have made it clear that the toilets are placed in locations that give a lot of privacy to its users. The location is a perfect spot for the children to catch up on each other's lives and the lives of others too. The kind of bonding that happens outside a toilet cannot be acheived by any of the workshops on teamwork conducted by many of the corporate companies. The children bond across ages. They have many incidents and opinions to share and almost every sharing is listened to with rapt attention by all. It would be interesting place a microphone outside the toilet to capture these discussions. The revelations from these recordings could result in the emergence of new pedagogies and which in turn could revolutionize the world of education.
I hope someone, someday will make an award winning documentary titled 'Toilet Tales'.
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