Pissing in the Street

I'll apologize first that I have no pictures of said activity. I'm not really brave enough to whip out the camera and take a photo of a guy urinating.

I also need to concede firstly that the United States is not free from street urination. In fact, what man, who regularly attends bars late in the evening, hasn't been walking home from the pub or bar and had to pull over for a moment of reprieve? I'd venture to say many men have done so. The difference in the two approaches is this:
In America we still try to hide the act even when no one else is around. Toilet duties have in our minds become a very private issue. In India this is generally true, but one cannot walk around for a day without seeing a dozen men relieving their bladders in public.

An Indian friend of mine seems to be embarrassed by this truth. However, I don't see why he should feel this embarrassment. The way sewage seems to work in this part of India is that waste gets dumped directly into a river or a canal or the bay of bengal. The idea of urinating directly into a canal shouldn't be such a big issue given the sewage management. I don't see the problem.

Again, a disclaimer: I am too American to pee in the street as openly as it is accepted here. At the same time I don't really see a problem with it socially, I can't bring myself to do it. Even when I was on the bus back from Pondicherry there were several unannounced stops in which men jumped off, peed in the bushes and jumped back on the bus. Sanitary, no. Useful, absolutely!

I don't think there's too terribly much more to say about it. It's just another phenomenon that is totally usual and commonplace here, but would be considered quite out of place back home.