• Population in India is approximately 10 to 1 compared to the population of the United States.
• The average temperature is 90 degrees with high humidity and a monsoon season lasting from June through the end of September.
• The high humidity contributes to excessive mold growth therefore it is more practical not to paint walls nor cover floors with carpeting, therefore typical furniture in a home are pillows and throw-rugs.
• Relationships and intellectual conversation are more important to the Indian population than personal beauty of the home.
• A walled barrier of some type surrounds many homes in the urban centers.
• In rural areas residents all live in villages so that they can rely on each other’s help.
• Religious beliefs play a major role in the design of the home. For example cows share the living quarters, and a religious shrine may be the only decoration or focal point in the home.
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  Running water and indoor plumbing are not the norm. Most cooking and clean-up takes place outside on a cement slab or on hard clean swept dirt/dung. Village wells and the need for water purity are becoming more of the local practice.
• India has been de-forested. Fire is still the most common source of heat for food preparation. Dung is the most common fuel source.
• Lack of sound construction practices, inadequate building budgets, poor quality of materials, theft, mold, humidity, lack of sanitation all play a part in the production of building that cannot stand the test of time.
• Natural materials such as mud, thatch and cow dung are materials readily available and used for most rural home construction.
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  Bathing is part of all Indian’s daily routine. The usual system used is a bucket of warm water with a small pitcher. If facilities are inside than a place is available for this bathing, if not community wells are used (especially for the males) or the water is transported to the home by large ceramic pots.
• No formal garbage system but rag pickers are part of every day life and pick up and sell plastic, paper, wire etc.
• Many beds are made of woven fiber and families sleep outside when weather permits.

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Last modified: February 22, 2000