THREE months ago, the world suddenly woke up to the fact that southern Sudan was in the grip of yet another drought that was killing people, especially children, like flies. The UN sent out an urgent appeal for food. Sudan desperately needed food to tide over the next few months because some two million people were in acute danger of starvation. India had, at that moment, over 26 million tonnes of foodgrains in its stocks. But it did not even occur to the government that it might commit a quarter million tonnes to Sudan.