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Rice Bucket, desi version of Ice Bucket, goes viral

Last Updated 27 August 2014, 19:32 IST

Replacing the ongoing Ice Bucket Challenge mania in the social media, the “Rice Bucket Challenge” propounded by a local journalist-turned-activist has taken over as a more pressing social cause than its western counterpart.

Thirty-year-old Manjulatha Kalanidhi, a native of Warangal in Telangana started the rice bucket challenge in her own way of donating rice to the needy. “I started it by donating 22 kg of rice to a poor man which costs around Rs 800,” she said. 

Being an active user of Facebook, she uploaded the picture and content on her account. The post on become viral and people stared to take the challenge and started posting their donations. “Many NRI’s liked the challenge and they started participating through their kin here,” she added.

Kalanidhi argues that the “Ice Bucket Campaign,” is primarily aimed at bringing about awareness on ALS, a condition of the nervous system also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, doesn’t have much of relevance in developing nations like India. She says that poverty is an issue that needs to be addressed in our country than any other issue.   

Born, brought up and educated in nearby Warangal district, Manjulatha had joined Oryza.com, a rice research and analysis firm just three months ago. She worked as journalist for nearly 17 years. 

“I always liked doing human interests stories as a journalist. My small step towards a social cause has created a social media tsunami. A couple of people from the Telugu film industry have also commented on my FB page,” she said, adding that the ripple effect of her initiative was really coming to play in the past couple of days.

The Rice Bucket Challenge was also picked by academic institutions all over the two Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 

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(Published 27 August 2014, 19:32 IST)

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