Sun, 24 Nov, 2024

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

By Abhusan Gautam

If you have been following the global trend, you must have heard of the ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE. So what is it all about? For starters, it’s a charity raising campaign where people dump a bucket of Ice-water on their head to promote awareness for ALS [Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis] disease and donate for its research. The objective is to film yourself while dumping water on your head and then nominate your friends for the challenge. The nominated ones have 24 hours to do the same. Once done, you are supposed to donate to alsa.org. Ice-bucket challenge has taken the world by storm. In the space of just a few months, this event has collected more than 100 million dollars in charity. The outbreak started in America after a few local celebrities took the challenge. Soon enough, many popular celebrities followed, dumping and nominating others while contributing to the charity. The fans of the celebrities followed them and it became viral. People claimed it to be the “Harlem-Shake of the summer”. If you haven’t been nominated for the challenge yet, no need to panic, you’ll get to follow the majority of the world soon. Everything that is successful has critics and the Ice-bucket challenge is no exception. Charlie Sheen and Bill Gates have openly criticized the activity stating its more about the donation than the challenge itself. It is also criticized by environmentalist and Catholic people for its water-wasting behaviour or celebrities showing off their bodies respectively. But the mass of the “No-Ice Bucket Challenge” is tiny compared to that of ones taking the challenge. Therefore, the charity event is going to last longer than you think, at least until the next winter, probably. Ice-bucket challenge is successful because it is fun and catchy plus you get bragging rights. Whether they donate to the charity or not, it’s up to them but everyone is attracted to it. Operate a social networking site {Facebook, Twitter or Instagram}, you’ll see at least one post concerning the challenge everyday. The sunny weather provides a perfect opportunity for the challenge to flourish. Your friends are doing it and they have probably nominated you for the challenge. If you have a cell phone {that can shoot a video} and a bucket, you’re set to go. It serves a noble cause, so why not?