Rice, Not Ice: India’s Answer to the Ice Bucket Challenge

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, 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 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, 312 million people in India live below the poverty line.