September 13, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 12, 1429

MUMBAI, Sept 12: A museum at a former home of Mahatma Gandhi has a new exhibit — a replica of the specially-built mobile lavatory used by the father of Indian independence.

An official at the Sabarmati retreat in Ahmedabad, western India, confirmed a newspaper report on Friday that the loo had been recreated at the site, which houses memorabilia and artefacts from Gandhi’s life.

The Mumbai Mirror tabloid quoted Gandhi expert Prasad Trivedi, 82, as saying the original was removed 22 years ago because it was deemed inappropriate for the surroundings but he felt it should have been preserved for the nation.

Mahatma Gandhi, who set out from the house on the first organised opposition to British rule in 1930, was noted for his keen attention to health and hygiene and had a rigorous daily routine of ablutions.

He believed in the responsible disposal of human excrement to avoid disease and had a lavatory constructed to allow urine and stools to be used as fertilisers in fields around his Ahmedabad home.

An administrator at the residence told the newspaper that the lavatory was recreated after tourists visiting the site, which now houses a museum to Gandhi’s life, repeatedly asked where he attended the call of nature.

“The loo will be kept on exhibition outside the museum. This is where it was kept 22 years ago,” she was quoted as saying.

— AFP