To let or not to let

Visiting The World’s Funniest And The Third Weirdest Museum: Sulabh International

Gauri Singh, XI C & Kalpita Chakraborty, XI B, AIS Vas 6

“It’s better to be pissed off than pissed on,” says a cheeky exhibit at the Sulabh International Toilet Museum. Located rather inconspicuously on the Palam-Dabri road, this one is as weird as it gets. From the gold plated toilets of the Romans to the ‘Throne’ toilet, you can find it all here. It comes as no surprise that Times accorded it the title of the ‘third weirdest museum in the world’. But as weird as it may seem, it brings to light a rather serious issue - sanitation.

The idea
In a country, where 550 million people continue to defecate in the open every day, toilets are no laughing business.  This prompted Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, a sociologist and founder of Sulabh International Museum, to come up with the idea of ‘Sulabh’, an initiative towards improving sanitation in India. Moved by the manual scavengers and their conditions, he set out to raise awareness about ecological and human friendly toilets in developing countries like India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Africa and Latin America. All the Sulabh Shauchalyas we hear about or see while traveling on the roadsides are under the same initiative, being firmly held and taken forward by the founder himself.
The visit
The first thing you see after entering the museum is a display case of 68 national flags to showcase the authenticity of the toilet specimens. “The differences of all the countries disappear and they stand united when it comes to issues like sanitation,” shares Shikha Verma, the curator of the museum. To the right, there’s  an ancient styled defecation system from the Harrapan civilization, showcasing  the evolution of sanitation in India since 2500 BC. Several specimens from across the world along with a variety of futuristic toilets can be seen. A wall of hilarious water-closet memes is another such attraction.
The must visits
“The most fascinating toilet is the ‘Throne’ toilet,” says Verma. Story of this toilet is attached to the throne of the French king, Louis XIV, who was known to eat in private but defecate in public, as he suffered from constipation. She points out, “The cringed yet amused expressions on the faces of the visitors after seeing the ‘Throne’ toilet is a site to behold.” Other intriguing toilets include the solar powered toilet that decomposes the faeces into manure and the one with an attached wash basin designed by a Spanish company named Roca. The most expensive toilet of the museum is an electrical toilet which turns faeces  into ashes to prevent the problem of waste disposal. All these futuristic toilets range from 2 to 2.6 lakhs INR.

The journey
Established in 1992, the toilet museum has come a long way. “Footfall of the museum has reached over a lakh. Celebs like Akshay Kumar visiting the museum has further fuelled its popularity,” says Verma. The change in people’s views towards the museum is evident in the collector’s donations. A unique Indian style toilet designed for old people and a ‘Singapore bucket’ are some of the latest donations received by the museum. “It is great to see a change in the mindset of people. But what is even more gratifying is the realisation that we are majorly contributing towards curbing the problem of sanitation in our country. We wish to contribute further by taking the museum to a much more larger scale,” says Verma, signing off.

Address: Sulabh Bhawan, RZ-83, Palam - Dabri Marg, Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi 110045
Hours: 10:30 am - 8pm
Open: All days
Entry: Free
Phone: 011 2505 3646