Editorial: Spit personalities and the ‘paan’ Indian

“Spitting in public places shall be punishable with a fine,” it read. The threat that spitting in the open poses in the time of the coronavirus – which we know is borne by droplets of saliva and smaller particles that we think may linger in the air in the form of aerosol – is plainly unmistakable. Clearly, just as there is a need to keep people distant in public places, it is important to keep them from spattering gobs of saliva in such places. Even if one were to concede that it is a matter of opinion that such behaviour is gross and utterly revolting, there is no getting away from the fact that public spitting is a serious health hazard. On the latter, the jury, as it were, is anything but spit wide open. Apart from COVID-19, the principal public health issue that the world faces today, spitting in public places carries the risk of spreading a clutch of other diseases. Among those which are carried through saliva are such diseases as tuberculosis, hepatitis and viral meningitis, not to speak of the common influenza. In many countries, spitting is regarded now as an extreme reaction of anger or distaste at something. In India, it remains a socially-sanctioned act of clearing the throat, usually in a remarkably phlegmatic manner.

We routinely reaffirm the vibrancy and colour of Indian culture by streaking our public places with bold streaks of red – thanks either to the famous Banarasi paan or the infamous gutka. Nothing seems to get the salivary glands of Indians working like the sight of a clean white wall. Which sometimes raises the cultural question: if abstract wall painting is among our favourite pastimes, our idiosyncratic way of painting the town red, should we be complaining at all?

Yes, we should, and never mind those who think that raising a red flag over spitting constitutes a deep-seated bias against our cultural practices. If strict penalties against spitting succeed in reducing the consumption of chewing tobacco, then the Centre’s advisories and the action already taken by some States will have huge collateral benefits. We may have turned our attention to spitting because of COVID-19, but there will be spin-offs in terms of chewing tobacco consumption and prevention of other diseases such as tuberculosis. As diseases go, they are very different (not spitting images of each other). But they are all linked to a common trigger, which may well deserve a mass movement of its own – Me Thoo?