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?