Saving India's rice

“If you tickle the earth with a hoe,” it is said, “she laughs with a harvest.”

Not anymore.

The agricultural yield of India has been steadily decreasing over time. Nowhere is this depletion more evident than in the cultivation of rice, once a staple crop in the country.

There was a time when fields across the country saw the harvesting of numerous varieties of rice that were native to a particular village and were not to be found anywhere else. These strains of rice were treasured by generations of farmers for their capacity to grow well in extreme weather conditions such as droughts or floods. Such rice also had a strong medicinal value (some could even prevent cancers) and were not affected by saltwater.

Dr Debal Deb, noted India rice conservationist, estimates that India was once home to more than 100,000 local varieties of rice. That number has now dropped to 6000, owing to modern methods that encourage the growth of hybrids in the hope of netting high yields.

Abysmal as the loss is, it would have been much worse were it not for the efforts of Dr Deb, who has singlehandedly worked hard to remedy the situation. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Science, Dr Deb is a Fulbright scholar who has done post-doctoral ecology work at the University of California at Berkeley. Buoyed by the courage of his convictions, he gave up his job at the World Wildlife Fund to save the country’s rice strains.

Dr Deb has made it his personal mission to give renewed life to those lost varieties of rice. He visits remote regions and gets in touch with marginalized farmers that the country has forgotten about in his quest to source the seeds to these varieties. His efforts require him not only to battle larger issues of climate change and poverty, but also to fight against bureaucracy and the apathy of people.

His battleground is a 2.5 acre plot of land in a forest area on the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha, where Dr Deb is growing 920 varieties of rice. These varieties are planted in the traditional manner, with care taken to ensure that no two varieties grow at the same time, to prevent cross pollination and ensure the genetic purity of the varieties.

Over the last few decades, Dr Deb has collected more than a 1000 varieties of rice from 13 states across India. He stores the seeds in a seed bank named Vrihi, the Sanskrit word for rice. These are seeds that Dr Deb painstakingly collected from farmers. But for his efforts, these numbers would have been added on the debit side, aggravating the loss that the country suffers.

To do this, Dr Deb has initiated a unique method, a seed exchange programme that rewards farmers for sharing. He grows the rice and then distributes it in 1kg packets. Farmers receive the packets free, but must bring back 2kg to him, to prove that they have cultivated it. And so the cycle continues, including more and more farmers in its ever increasing spiral of generosity.

The spurt given to the cultivation of these varieties of rice contributes to food security and helps perpetuate the culture and the local biodiversity. Enabling these varieties to thrive has also served farmers well. When Cyclone Aila destroyed parts of West Bengal in 2009, some farmers in the Sundarbans who were cultivating salt-tolerant varieties of rice, with the support of Dr Deb, reported a rich harvest.

As the devastating effects of global warming become a reality and extreme weather conditions become more and more evident, the value of Dr Deb’s efforts will become more evident. Dr Deb also hopes that this resurgence will re-kindle farmers’ interest in traditional farming methods.

In a world in which food security has begun to cause grave concern and in which food varieties are disappearing forever, Dr Deb’s efforts can help herald a new era for Indian agriculture.

I believe that Dr Deb's efforts are all that stand between profusion and extinction for India’s rice heritage.

Dear reader, if you are reading this and believe, as I do, in the perseverance against all odds displayed by Dr Deb, please do not forget to vote for him. Please vote for Dr Deb. 



“I’m voting for Dr Deb’s #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help him get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW."

Climbing Mt Everest on limbs of steel

Reputed world federalist leader and editor-in-chief of the Saturday Review of Literature Norman Cousins wrote in his book, Human Options, “Most men think they are immortal -- until they get a cold, when they think they are going to die within the hour.”

It was a quote that sprang to my mind when I read about the brutally horrifying accident that Arunima Sinha lived through. The newspaper, the largest selling English newspaper in India, had given her three paragraphs in a single column.

A national level volleyball player then, Arunima was pushed out of the general coach of a running train, the Padmavati Express, on April 11, 2011, by thieves who attempted to snatch her bag and gold chain. When she resisted them, they pushed her out. She had been on her way from Lucknow to Delhi to take an examination that would qualify her to join the CISF [Central Industrial Security Force].

Falling on the tracks, struck immobile by the force of being catapulted out of a moving train, Arunima lay powerless on the track when a train on the other track went over her leg. Soon after that, a train on a parallel track ran over her leg again, crushing her leg below the knee. She lay there all night, even as rats chewed on her broken leg, and 49 trains went up and down. She was only rescued in the morning.

Doctors at the local hospital had no anaesthesia to operate upon her. Arunima told them she had already lived through pain, and that they should go ahead to save her life. Eventually, they had to amputate her leg in order to save her life.

Anyone else’s spirits would have been crushed, following such a devastating accident. Not Arunima.

Days later, she was moved to AIIMS [All India Institute of Medical Sciences]. A private company gave her a prosthetic leg free of cost. Meanwhile the media had a field day, accusing her of travelling ticketless and of jumping off the train. Others said she was intent of committing suicide. Arunima battled these misconceptions as much as the pain.

For 4 months, she stayed in AIIMS. While still there, she decided to climb Mount Everest and take up mountaineering. People belittled her efforts but she could not be stopped. Meeting Bachendri Pal, the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest, helped her to realize her dream, giving her the training and the exposure she needed to make her dream come true.

Becoming a part of the Tata group-sponsored Eco Everest Foundation, Arunima took on the larger-than-life challenge of climbing a mountain that has deterred and attracted bravehearts for centuries. It took her 52 days to reach the summit. She was on top of the world on May 21, 2013, a little over 2 years after her accident.

Very close to the summit, the Sherpa refused to accompany her, saying that an amputee would find it difficult to climb Everest, that they should turn back. When he refused to listen to her pleas, she went on alone.

Her oxygen tank was nearly running on empty. The sherpa pleaded with her. At this point, even her artificial leg came off.

Through this ordeal, she became the first Indian amputee and the first female amputee to climb Mount Everest. In fact, she drove herself so hard that she overtook the others who accompanied her on the climb. You can listen to her story first hand in her own words and voice here:

I was so completely touched on viewing this video. Arunima is a plucky girl, who has shown uncommon courage, in spite of her disability.

Soon after, she was determined to climb the highest peaks on each of the continents. She followed up her Mount Everest success with Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe and Mount Kosciuszko in Australia.

She is now working towards opening a free sports academy for the poor and differently-abled. Her courage and determination have made her an inspiration to millions of differently abled people. Her actions have shown that they can live their lives with dignity.


Arunima’s achievements remind me of another quote by Norman Cousins. He said, “If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality.”

I believe that Arunima has earned her right to immortality.

Dear reader, if you are reading this and believe, as I do, in Arunima's rare courage and strength of will, please do not forget to vote for her. Please vote for Arunima. 



“I’m voting for Arunima Sinha’s #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help her get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW."

Let's all become Akshaya Patras for our children

None of us wore watches to school, but that was alright. We didn’t need a timepiece to let us know that it was recess time. The loud rumbling of our stomachs and our increasing inability to focus on what was happening inside the classroom was enough.

Soon the tring-tring-tring of the school bell would sound over the clamour of the voices of a thousand schoolgirls and it would be time to dig into our little plastic and steel tiffin boxes and savour the joys they contained.

Most of us had been sent to school with a full breakfast. And the recess was only a comma in what would end in a hot home-cooked meal when school closed and we got home. Most moms were stay-at-home in those days.

I cannot even begin to imagine the plight of children, millions of them, who go to bed hungry, wake up hungry, then go to school hungry, their minds unable to hear the voices of their teachers over the din raised by their empty bellies.

If at all they go to school.

In between they might nibble on something utterly devoid of nutrition that does nothing to appease the hunger pangs.

What is their motivation for staying in school?

More importantly, what is their parents’ motivation for sending them to school? Their poor parents are more likely to pull them out of school, and utilise them as two more hands to work, rather than one more mouth to feed.

The promise of a meal at school is the key to keeping a child at school while providing for their growth and nourishment. The offering of one square meal in the middle of the day might seem trivial to those of us who have never known real hunger. But to the child who is malnourished and seemingly destined for a life of misery, it is the only means by which we can ensure a healthy future for both their bodies and minds.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been working relentlessly, not only to fight hunger but also to keep children in school, away from the streets, and give them the opportunity to better their lives. Beginning in the year 2000 by serving 1500 children across 5 schools, Akshaya Patra is today the world’s largest (not-for-profit) mid-day meal programme which serves wholesome and sufficient foot to over 1.4 million children from 10,661 schools across 23 locations in 10 states of India.



How much does it cost to keep a child fed through the academic year? Just Rs 750.

Take that kind of money with you to the mall, and you’d soon learn how pitifully insufficient it is. If you and a friend went to a multiplex to catch a film, you’d spend much more for the film and the snacks during the interval.

After the film, if you and the same friend went to a decent restaurant with that kind of money, I doubt you’d even reach as far as the appetizers.

And yet that kind of money can feed a child. For a whole year.

A startling idea that brings a whole new perspective to life.

If you want to be part of this revolution to defy hunger and build a new generation of people, you can. As Mother Teresa said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”

If you are willing to do that, rush to the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s online donation page and see how easy it is to make a difference.


A nation that does nothing while its littlest citizens go hungry has no right to call itself a great nation. Over time, children who are hungry or even malnourished find themselves suffering from a diminished capacity to understand and learn, to make the right decisions and to live life to the fullest. It is one meal a day that can save them from such a cruel fate.

Poverty is a complicated issue. And despite decades of posturing and shouting slogans like “Garibi Hatao,” I doubt it will be possible to eliminate poverty. And yet, through a programme like the midday meals, Akshaya Patra offers us a way to break down the barriers of poverty and make a difference to each child.

A midday meal boosts school enrollment, attendance and academic performance. A child that is well-fed is a child that will stay in school. A generation of children who are well-fed will mean a stronger, more able-bodied generation, that is not just literate, but intelligent and more competent to steer this country forward.

Akshaya Patra’s efforts teach us that it is possible for each of us to do something to feed our children.

In the Mahabharat, the Akshayapatra (Sanskrit for inexhaustible vessel) held a never-failing supply of food for the Pandavas every day.

Each of us could be the Akshaya Patra for our children. All we need to do is to spare Rs 750 to feed one child for one academic year. 

One hungry child at a time.

• I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda.