Kiva

As I listened to the three leaked songs from the much-anticipated Rajini movie "Sivaji", I saw a banner advertisement for an organization called Kiva.

Kiva is an organization that enables people from around the world to lend money to potential entrepreneurs in under-developed countries. What a great idea! Get rid of the begging bowl and the ads showing kids with flies on their mouth and actually participate in an exercise that leads towards a long-term, sustainable source of income and employment.

This echoes my belief that the greatest charitable contribution is providing employment.

A kilogram of rice

I was listening to a truly excellent program on the radio yesterday (BBC Radio). A reporter is spending a week each in the major rice growing regions to understand how rice influences the economy, culture and eating habits of the region. He was in China yesterday and I heard the most remarkable statistic.

To grow one kilogram of rice, you need 5,000 litres of water. This is the single most astounding statistic I have ever heard. 5,000 litres !

The entire Cauvery dispute, farmer suicides and celebration of rain .... All make sense to me.

I can just imagine the water gushing down the Kutrallam falls as I sit here in the Memphis airport. That is god right there, the true sustainer of life, water. How can stone be more sacred than water?