[1][2][3] As an alternative to the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Rice Bucket Challenge served the dual purpose of highlighting water scarcity (in that the use of ice was considered expensive and wasteful) and poverty (in that a bucket of rice was considered a valuable donation by recipients).
[1][2] The idea for the Rice Bucket Challenge is attributed to Manju Latha Kalanidhi, a 38-year-old journalist based in Hyderabad, India.
On August 25, the Rice Bucket Challenge was covered in BuzzFeed[6] and Quartz,[1] and within a few days, it had received coverage in the Huffington Post,[2] Chicago Tribune,[5] CNN,[7] CNBC,[3] NPR,[8] NDTV,[4] Time,[9] and many other news websites.
The Rice Bucket Challenge spread to other South Asian nations, including Nepal and Sri Lanka.
[12] A version of this challenge not related to it was led by businessman Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong in Manila in the Philippines on September 12, 2014, that attracted media attention in the Philippines.