Paan staining and the cost of the next person seeing it
Chewing paan isn't the problem; where you spit is. The cost of stains on shared walls, the cheap spit-container habit, and how to report a recurring stain.
Spitting, hygiene, and bodies in public
The most visceral category. Spitting paan and gutka, public urination, nose-blowing, hand hygiene, public toilets. Each topic is uncomfortable for a reason, and the reason is that we have not had this conversation as a society. We are having it here, with care, and without lecturing.
13 lessons 37 min in total
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Carrying a spit-jar: a small dignity restored
A spit-jar turns a public habit into a private one: the Mughal-era vessel it revives, what Indian Railways spends on stains, and how to build the routine.
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Gutka, oral cancer, and the math you weren't told
The three numbers a gutka pouch never shows you: the real yearly spend, India's tobacco-linked cancer burden, and what IARC says about areca nut itself.
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The wall behind your office: it's also somebody's wall
India's real public toilet shortage, and the agency you still have: why the wall is someone's, mapping the nearest toilets, and requesting a new one.
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What to do when there's genuinely no toilet (and how to ask for one)
What to do when there is genuinely no toilet: finding the 45,000 mapped across India, the employer's legal duty, and how to ask without apology.
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Nose-blowing across cultures: the tissue, the napkin, the elbow
Nose-blowing norms differ by country, but the sequence does not. Why the elbow is for sneezes, why the table napkin is never an option, and how to blow gently.
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Cover your mouth: the lesson COVID taught and we forgot
Covering a cough with your hand moves it to the next door handle. What the CDC recommends, why the sleeve beats the palm, and when a mask is the simpler fix.
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Why hand-washing in public restrooms still matters in 2026
Soap for 20 seconds, then dry. Why drying is the step almost everyone skips, what sanitiser cannot replace, and what to carry when the dispenser is empty.
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The Indian-style cubicle: how to leave it for the next person
How to leave a public toilet better for the next person: five seconds at exit, why the hand-shower is not for your hands, and the soap-wash payoff.
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The Western-style cubicle: the seat is for sitting
Squatting on a Western toilet seat feels safer but aims the worry the wrong way. The ten-second wipe-and-sit routine, and whose only option that seat is.
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Pads, cups, disposal: a 5-minute briefing for everyone
Pads, cups and disposal, a 5-minute briefing for everyone: wrap and bin them, never flush, carry an emergency kit, and provide a covered bin per cubicle.
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Clipping nails on the metro is a choice, please make a different one
A nail clipper in a metro carriage is three problems at once: the sound, the clippings, and hands nobody can wash. What the law says, and the better fix.
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Combing, picking, scratching: the unwritten line
Public grooming has an exact unwritten line: adjusting is fine anywhere; combing, nose and ear work belong at a basin. Two questions that sort every case.
