WITH her bladder fit to burst on a recent ride with an all-female motorbike club, Vidhi Malla chugged on her 350cc ''Thunderbird'' into a fancy highway eatery near New Delhi and rushed to the toilet.
But to her disgust, if not her surprise, the facilities stank and the seat was splattered with urine, forcing the 34-year-old to get back on her bike and wait till she got home.
Indian Prime Ministe Narendra Modi will trumpet progress in improving access to toilets at a Delhi convention starting this weekend - but as Malla's experience shows, there is still a long way to go.
Some help is at hand from local startups providing ways to avoid coming into contact with or clean-up filthy toilet seats, which doctors warn pose a health risk to many women.
''Toilets are a huge issue. Once I caught an infection a loo in a big hotel,'' Malla, a public relation consultant , told AFP.
Mall's friends in her bike gang recounted their own horror stories - from bins overflowing with used toilet paper to wiping the seat of their dresses.
Using a dirty toilet, not drinking enough water or holding urine for a long time, puts women at a greater risk of urine for a long time puts women at a greater risk of urinary tract infections, a painful complaint that half of women report having had at least once.
''Indian toilets are a breeding ground infections,'' gynecologist Anchu Jindal told AFP.
New businesses tackling the problems are tapping into feminine hygiene sector forecast by Euromonitor to grow to $522 million by 2020 from $140 million now as India's middle class swells.
India's first female urination device, the PeeBuddy , is a simple candy-green cardboard funnel laminated with water-resistant coating allowing women to keep their distance from loo seats.
The Operational Research on Women's Living woes continues..
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