India's rice bucket challenge goes viral on social media

Hyderabad She did not like the idea of an individual pouring icecold water on the head and challenging others to do so or donate to a charity and hence came out with a simple idea of donating rice to help the poor and needyWhen Manju Latha Kalanidhi 38 donated a bucket of rice took a picture and posted it on her Facebook page on Aug 21 she did not imagine that it would soon go viral on social media The rice bucket challenge Facebook page has been viewed by over 280000 people It has over 70000 likesManju Latha Kalanidhi PicsIANSThe initiative caught the imagination of everyone with more and more individuals including celebrities and groups coming forward to participate in the challenge to cherish the joy of sharingThe challenge involves donating rice to someone in need and sharing it online to inspire others to do the charity It is believed that more than 10000 kg of rice has been distributed in India since the challenge took offThe latest is that people in Cambodia have joined it Several organizations have come forward to donate rice to the poor Manju Latha told IANSPeople in countries like Turkey the United Arab Emirates the Philippines Singapore and Indonesia are also participating in the programme to feed their poor she saidA lady donating rice in PuneManju Latha a journalist based in Hyderabad replaced ice with rice to make it suitable for IndiansThe ice bucket challenge is meant to encourage donations for research into Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ASL a neurodegenerative disease The participants pour a bucket of icecold water over their heads and challenge someone to do the same If they cant they have to donate 100 to the ALS AssociationCelebrities such as Bill Gates and Roger Federer have participated in the ice bucket challenge the idea of which was floated by US baseball player and ALS patient Pete FratesI did not like wasting water and going through that torture to escape charity I wanted something very local which is desi Manju Latha saidThe participants in the rice bucket challenge in fact escape the cause as they dont end up paying Here the participants are inspired to donate she saidA family in Mumbai donating riceiCONGO an international confederation of NGOs and the United Nations early this week announced the Karmaveer Chakra Award for Manju Latha The award is given for doing something small yet significant to make a difference in the worldThe concept of charity was always there in Indian society We just wanted to give it a boost We are asking people to donate to anybody around him who is in need added her husband Devuni Vijeye They however feel that everybody should participate in it as just visiting the website clicking like or making comments will not helpBut why rice Manju Latha pointed out that rice is staple food in India which is a ricegrowing country Rice donation is part of Indian tradition I think feeding a hungry stomach is the best charity one can do saidRice also has a long shelflife and it makes donation easy anywhere and anytimeThe journalist is elated over the massive response her initiative has evokedIt was not expected at all I am happy that the entire nation is able to connect with this said Manju Latha who is planning to rope in NGOs and ensure that it does not become a onetime affair like the ice bucket challengeAfter southern actress Sandhya wellknown Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt also backed the initiativeAnything which is good imaginative which has the humanitys concern at its heart will find legs I think what started in the West always existed in our country We have forgotten this Bhatt told IANSThe rice bucket challenge is just a symbol that what the nation needs to inculcate is empathy towards weaker and those who are not strong enough to fend for themselves What belongs to the entire mankind has been usurped by a handful of people so it is binding on those who have it to share it with havenots Perhaps then only we will have a safer peaceful and humane world added Bhatt