What country has over 1 million people whose job it is to carry other peoples shit on their heads? Arundhati Roy
The quote reads a little like it is a quiz question. This is Jeopardy of a different kind.
I imagine a father asking his son to sit down one day.
A Son,old enough to dream,old enough to want to take advantage of all that life has to offer.
In India, as a Dalit, carrying other people’s shit is what is expected of you.
Sorry Son, your dreams of a good life are over, now put this on your head.
A whole caste of people,as Arundhati Roy said,destined to carry excrement on their heads.
Deprived of opportunity as a result of their birth.
At the same time, it’s a job that needs to be done.
Pure genius
One time,back in England in the time of Queen Victoria, it was big business.
Only it wasn’t human, it belonged to dogs. They called it ‘pure’.
It was used in the curing process for leather. So the pure-finders would race around London picking up all the excrement they could find.
Ten pence a bucket.
They would sell it to a tannery, the more limey the better.
If it was chalky white,meaning it contained more lime, you got more per bucket.
You may think it is why British people were called ‘limeys’
That was more to do with the habit of adding lime or lemon juice to a sailors daily grog to avoid scurvy.
I’m also sure it made the sailors more tasty, as in the case of Captain Cook, who was eaten in Hawaii.
My entry for one liner Wednesday, a quote from a booker prize winner.
I’m old enough to remember when you could walk down the street and see little white packages of fossilized dog excrement. Happy days. 🐕🍦
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Another way of making a living cruelly taken from us.. but yeh it used to be everywhere, not it’s all hanging on trees.. as forgetful owners leave it hanging rather than carry it..
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Kinda like smelly Christmas tree decorations that slap tall people in the face.
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every solution brings a new problem
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Well, that was an interesting version of Jeopardy! I never would have gotten this one right. 😆
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I prefer wheel – just shouting out random letters 🙂 Although Jeopardy I did once guess the final answer during the ads before they asked the question.
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There’s quite a lot to take in here. Let’s break it down:
1. I can think of quite a few people who are uniquely qualified to carry shit on their heads full time. Do you suppose that’s where the term shithead comes from?
2. So in Victorian England they cured leather with dog feces? Fascinating. Saves you the embarrassment of explaining the smell from stepping in it I suppose.
3. I admit to never giving much thought to the term limey. Although the tart fruit is a much better stew seasoner than dog poo, I’ll give you that.
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Lol, so 1. Not me I hope. Would be funny if it did. 2. Yes, they also used to steal the grout/caulk from buildings to give it the chalk color to get a better price. 3. Agreed 🙂 but for those you don’t like, reserve your baking options
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I knew it had to be India as soon as I saw the author of the quote! Great 1-liner!
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Ty 🙂
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“Alex, I’ll take excrement for $200” – I missed that episode 🙂
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hah 🙂 Keep watching it’s inevitable. Ironically dhalits were on BBC radio news last night. Quite an awful thing.
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At least they aren’t Hijras. There are millions of them in India and to be one you have to remove your penis and testicles.
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As spike Milligan said ‘everybody’s got to be somebody’ –
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Bone.
Feeding the dog bone as part of its diet, for example; feeding it meaty lamb ribs or dinosaur femur, unicorn hip,
will produce white dog poo.
Buildings will stay intact and stable, no need for added lime
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We’ll go back in time and sort these fools out
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You never once mentioned your T-A-R-D-I-S Tim, have you really got one ? 😀
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I just need to get rid of this Yorkshire lass…
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Wow. I’m just imagining the video Daily Double now … Wow.
Heehee.
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🙂 I was trying not to until you posted that 🙂
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Haha!
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[…] What country has over one….. ( One liner Wednesday) […]
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