Hungry India's challenge is rice, not ice

Pouring a bucket of iced water over one's head has become a global phenomenon. Indeed, the Ice Bucket Challenge has already raised over HK$25 million in Hong Kong and many more millions globally in support of those afflicted with an incurable disease.

As ice bucket fever gripped the world, in Hyderabad, in the south of India, the "rice bucket challenge" was started by a woman, Manju Latha Kalanidhi. Her challenge is for a person to donate a bowl of rice to a needy person in their neighbourhood, then nominate another to do the same, and so on.

Although this challenge has not received the same media fanfare as the Ice Bucket Challenge, it has been quietly achieving its purpose of ensuring a poor person does not go to bed hungry. The biggest support has come from university students who donated 2,200kg of rice in a single day.

According to the Global Hunger Index, India's level of hunger is at "alarming" levels and is one of only three countries outside sub-Saharan countries in this category. The other two are Haiti and East Timor.

The rice bucket challenge also allows people to donate 100 rupees' (HK$13) worth of medicine if local government hospitals face shortages.

Inspired by the rice bucket challenge, Nepal now has a "fill the bucket challenge" - in which people are asked to donate a plastic bucket full of food and medical supplies - to help families affected by the recent floods and landslides.

There is no doubt that the Ice Bucket Challenge is for an important cause. However, these two other challenges mentioned make much more sense in India and Nepal, respectively, given that they address the current needs of each nation.