Well move over baby Jesus, you've met your match. [1]
On Monday, an Indian woman riding the train from Meerut to Saharanpur went into labor and headed back to the train's toilet where she gave birth. If that wasn't a humbling enough way to begin one's life, how about this? After descending down and then out of nature's hole, the infant continued right on, slipping through the filthy waste hole of the moving train and out onto the dung-littered tracks.
Before you fault the mother for being careless, you should read up on using toilets on Indian trains. [2] The INDAX site cautions travelers that using these squat-type toilets is "an acquired art:"
Be careful, because with all the lurching and shaking, if you drop anything [your baby, for example] it's gone down that little hole in the floor. ...The floor is slippery and the train is lurching. Hang on to something. For many it will prove the biggest challenge they have faced since early childhood potty training.Miraculously, the child was found alive by a search party (Toilet Magi?) sent out from the next stop, which was 15 km away from the drop site.
Expect great things from this kid.
(Oh, and happy Mother's Day to all PR moms!)