--- description: The movement's Facebook page describes it as an "Indian version for Indian Needs" title: Rice not ice: this is how India does the Ice Bucket Challenge image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5811bff241bff35/6986a10655a8591bdea824ff/461185165.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rice, Not Ice: India's Answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 11:13 PM CUT  Rice RiceGetty Images  by [Arpita Aneja](/author/arpita-aneja/)  ## Arpita Aneja Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 11:13 PM CUT How does India do the Ice Bucket Challenge? They don’t. Instead of pouring buckets of ice and water over their heads, people in India have been filling a bucket with rice and giving it to local people in need. According to the [_Independent_](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/introducing-indias-rice-bucket-challenge-9688479.html "undefined"), the Rice Bucket Challenge was started by Manju Latha Kalanidhi, a journalist from Hyderabad, India. The first donation was made Sunday Morning and the movement’s [Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/ricebucketchallenge/timeline "undefined") has more than 35 thousand likes so far. As explained on the page, there are four steps to the Rice Bucket Challenge: 1) Pick up a bowl of rice from your kitchen 2) Go to the nearest needy person and give it to them 3) Click a picture and post it on Facebook with the hashtag #RiceBucketChallenge 4) Tag all your friends and ask them to take up the challenge According to the [World Bank](http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/0,,contentMDK:20208959~menuPK:435735~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:430367,00.html "undefined"), 312 million people in India live below the poverty line. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3183211/rice-bucket-challenge-india/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3183211/rice-bucket-challenge-india/"},"headline":"Rice, Not Ice: India's Answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge","datePublished":"2014-08-26T23:13:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:52:14.260Z","description":"The movement's Facebook page describes it as an \"Indian version for Indian Needs\"","url":"https://time.com/3183211/rice-bucket-challenge-india/","keywords":["Social Media","India","facebook","poverty","ALS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5811bff241bff35/6986a10655a8591bdea824ff/461185165.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Arpita Aneja","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/arpita-aneja/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5811bff241bff35/6986a10655a8591bdea824ff/461185165.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rice","caption":"Rice","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3183211/rice-bucket-challenge-india/","name":"Rice, Not Ice: India's Answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge"}}]}] ```