Stool examination: Open defecation from writings in British India to ‘The White Tiger’

“…The men were defecating in the open like a defensive wall in front of the slum, making a line that no respectable human should cross. The wind wafted the stench of fresh shit toward me… These people were building homes for the rich, but they lived in tents covered with blue tarpaulin sheets, and partitioned into lanes by lines of sewage. It was even worse than Laxmangarh… The stench of faeces was replaced by the stronger stench of industrial sewage…”

The above passage is from Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger (2008), a novel set partially in the Delhi National Capital Region, which made waves almost two decades ago. The passage is worth revisiting today for providing an entry point into the long and complex history of open defecation in India.

At the core, the novel reveals the ravages of social climbing, corruption, and ambition in a capitalist society. The unflinching portrayal of the city’s mercenary ethos, and the rise and fall of the “Everyman” chauffeur from Dhanbad, unsettles us deeply. But more importantly, its stark realism and visceral depiction of the metropolis-in-the-making feel intensely provocative. The book, for lack of a better word, seemed like an exposé when it came out.

Having first studied the novel in an...

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