Flush Files: The State of Washrooms

The State of Washrooms

It was still early in the night in the wings of H3, when a war cry began on the WhatsApp group chat named “H3 ki jal sena”, addressing an issue known to all, complained about by many, cried for by some, and fixed by none. While the war began with a simple “who did it this time?”, some chronically online Vitruvians still debated whether someone forgot to flush their emotional baggage or last night’s paneer, which crumbles like DOMS eraser, but none of the fragrance you’d hope for. 

While the instance mentioned above is a sneak peek into a vast shared legacy that the parent hostels hold, we, at Insight, are here to bring a universal matter discussed – a story that stands still, and an experience definitely not as per our will, the saga of washrooms.

The writers of this article have no intent to whine about things deemed as trivial, or school literal adults about their civic responsibilities, but only to bring a light-hearted take to everybody’s attention. 

The Perfect Loo(p) of Distress

Some sources state that the use of washrooms at unconventional times around the clock has become a conventional norm among hostel residents, in the aspiration of finding a perfectly empty and clean restroom, which is otherwise rare. The washrooms at hostel entrances are particularly known to be compromised, as they bear the responsibility of accounting for nature’s calls of those who do not reside in the hostels. When asked, some victims complained about never finding peace at the seats of honour, thanks to the historical ruins left by previous occupants.

At the same time, a few others were also seen traumatised by the sounds coming from the adjacent bathroom stall, which, upon further investigation, showed that they had no other option than to use the bathroom, since the entirety of the 6th floor was dependent on two washrooms with questionable sizes. An H2 resident was “excited to announce” to his 500+ connections on LinkedIn that after two semesters of resilience and skipping breakfast, he finally achieved the milestone of fitting into the washroom.

In the true Viking spirit, H6 residents raid every washroom far and wide in search of a rare treasure: a western washroom and a ‘drip’-free jet spray. They content themselves by saying ‘These are the things we will remember’.  Talking about legacy, the girls’ hostels reflect tales as old as time, with the drains clogged with an additional filtering layer of fallen human hair. Some residents have raised serious concerns over running out of different handwritings to mark their autographs, with the PHO workers being the only loyal audience. 

While the hostel washrooms hold a commendable position in the NSFW (Nonsensical Scale For Washrooms) rankings, the top position has been rightly awarded to that place where frogs rehearse for salsa (unlike most of us) and where the culture (and algae) blooms– the ancient washrooms of the old SAC, whose boundaries are playfully demarcated by spiders with their majestic web works.

The institute’s hostels are adopting several innovations to rise in the NSFW rankings. Pencils are being used as a quick-fix for broken locks and sprite bottles with meticulously drilled holes and faded stickers of the once ‘chaar din ka sapna’ are being used as soap dispensers. As a step toward sustainability, these places are kept devoid of circulatory mechanisms offered by fans and exhausts to save electricity and foster microbial growth. 

Meanwhile, at H3, the washrooms have been re-engineered to have a special feature called reverse flush. It is typically helpful for students who feel sleepy even after sleeping the whole night, or have trouble pulling out of fantasies. You flush, and the fluid waves splash back towards your face, and well, in a fraction of milliseconds, you are back to reality!

Like every statistical analysis, the NSFW rankings fail to account for some interesting phenomena, like the students “throwing the fits” out of the overstuffed washing machines and dryers that do not dry clothes. On enquiring an H17 resident if he had moved on from the trauma of no washing machines, he shared his journey from his room to the laundry service, “When I asked if my laundry was done after five days of wearing the same freebie t-shirt everywhere, laundry wale bhaiya threw a ‘fit’ at me, except it wasn’t mine!”   

The rare commode-ities 

When you and your (imaginary) love interest decide to go on expeditions on campus, it is better to avoid single-digit hostels. The reasoning comes not only with the increased probability of your heads colliding with the walls while pursuing your endeavours, but also with other interruptions, such as your partner having to go to another building, possibly a few hundred meters away, to relieve their bladder. This is as evident as the presence of a skewed ratio of washrooms, which is directly proportional to the gender ratio in several departments. Ironically, the department that concerns itself with dynamics lacks a functional washroom for women’s everyday motions. 

A different perspective on the story has been captured at the reading hall, where the authorities were questioned about the invisible water supply and non-functional flush by several maggus. Meanwhile, the DRs were seen ranting to the librarian about how the low-temperature ACs force them to use the ceramic pedestals (aka urinals), which were only three in number for the entire male populace. 

(Wash)room for improvement?

Though communicated with humour, these problems pose serious hygiene concerns for campus stakeholders: students, faculty, staff, and workers. The need of the hour is to ensure that the sanitation facilities across the institute are accessible and well-maintained. This is a shared responsibility between all three sides: the institute to fix the facilities and infrastructure; the Hostel Affairs Council to follow up until the job is done; and us, the institute-wide residents, to maintain them. 

The PHO workers often have to take care of problems that arise solely due to the lack of civic sense among institute residents, which is unfair. The institute is a home away from home, and we must respect the facilities and infrastructure. It is equally important to report the maintenance issues promptly (from our experience, the requests take 30 business days to be processed). We can always contact the Hostel Council, report the issues to the warden through support channels, and give our prompt opinion in the feedback forms provided outside several washrooms across the institute. 

Meanwhile, as a practice of conduct, we encourage the readers to never stop fighting on the WhatsApp groups and blaming each other for “who made the mess?”, for it’s constantly refreshing to school each other on our daily part of civic responsibilities!