First of all, let me break the ice by stating that I thought long and hard for a good title. I even googled for 'Ice puns' but I couldn't get anything title-worthy. Some titles what I thought of gave me the chills.
Lately, I have been spending abnormal amounts of time on a website which lowers your IQ. As I was going through this site called Facebook(yes, literally lowers your IQ), my 'Timeline' was filled with videos of people dumping buckets of ice over their head. My first thought was that this year's summer has been really hot and people have discovered a new(and stupid) technique to keep themselves cool. After further analysis, I realized that they are doing it for a cause and I ceased making fun of them.
ALS Ice bucket challenge, as they call it, is becoming rapidly popular across the interwebs. A serious neurological syndrome is affecting thousands of people everyday. ALS, which has some long biological expansion which I can't remember with 'S' standing for sclerosis. This syndrome basically affects the motor neurons in the body which leads to paralysis. There is this organization which is dedicated to ALS research and curing. The ALS ice bucket challenge is a medium through which people can be aware of this condition and if possible donate towards its research.
The basic idea of the ALS Ice bucket challenge is that you have to expel a bucketful of ice and water over your own body. The only condition is that the temperature of water/ice should be less than 0 degrees Celsius. It doesn't matter if you tilt the bucket, invert it over your head, use two hands,one hand, use legs, use fire engines, use helicopters,drones. It has all been done. I have been watching videos of creative people having ice-cold showers in front of the camera. The rule of this challenge is that you have to nominate 3 other people to take up this challenge and they have to do it within 24 hours. The person who accepts the challenge donates $10 for charity but the person who refuses the challenge or is unable to do it has to donate $100 to the same. If I ever get challenged by someone, I would accept the challenge and still donate $100. For such a serious condition which is affecting people, I wouldn't mind donating an extra $100 dollar. Anyway, I would still go ahead with the challenge because it is fun to make a video about it and it cools me down in this ridiculously hot Indian weather.
The only down-side to this otherwise fun challenge is that people focus more on the challenge than the cause of it. (The other down-side is the state of the bucket after I complete my challenge). There are viral videos of hollywood stars, NBA stars, football players getting wet on camera. But how much are people actually paying attention to all the neurologically affected people in the world. A charity for a cause can be done without these silly games but this ice bucket challenge, no matter how silly it is, creates awareness. It is a creative way to inform people about the neurological disease and that it is a serious syndrome.
(PS: You may find it chilling but all puns written above were intended.)
Lately, I have been spending abnormal amounts of time on a website which lowers your IQ. As I was going through this site called Facebook(yes, literally lowers your IQ), my 'Timeline' was filled with videos of people dumping buckets of ice over their head. My first thought was that this year's summer has been really hot and people have discovered a new(and stupid) technique to keep themselves cool. After further analysis, I realized that they are doing it for a cause and I ceased making fun of them.
ALS Ice bucket challenge, as they call it, is becoming rapidly popular across the interwebs. A serious neurological syndrome is affecting thousands of people everyday. ALS, which has some long biological expansion which I can't remember with 'S' standing for sclerosis. This syndrome basically affects the motor neurons in the body which leads to paralysis. There is this organization which is dedicated to ALS research and curing. The ALS ice bucket challenge is a medium through which people can be aware of this condition and if possible donate towards its research.
The basic idea of the ALS Ice bucket challenge is that you have to expel a bucketful of ice and water over your own body. The only condition is that the temperature of water/ice should be less than 0 degrees Celsius. It doesn't matter if you tilt the bucket, invert it over your head, use two hands,one hand, use legs, use fire engines, use helicopters,drones. It has all been done. I have been watching videos of creative people having ice-cold showers in front of the camera. The rule of this challenge is that you have to nominate 3 other people to take up this challenge and they have to do it within 24 hours. The person who accepts the challenge donates $10 for charity but the person who refuses the challenge or is unable to do it has to donate $100 to the same. If I ever get challenged by someone, I would accept the challenge and still donate $100. For such a serious condition which is affecting people, I wouldn't mind donating an extra $100 dollar. Anyway, I would still go ahead with the challenge because it is fun to make a video about it and it cools me down in this ridiculously hot Indian weather.
The only down-side to this otherwise fun challenge is that people focus more on the challenge than the cause of it. (The other down-side is the state of the bucket after I complete my challenge). There are viral videos of hollywood stars, NBA stars, football players getting wet on camera. But how much are people actually paying attention to all the neurologically affected people in the world. A charity for a cause can be done without these silly games but this ice bucket challenge, no matter how silly it is, creates awareness. It is a creative way to inform people about the neurological disease and that it is a serious syndrome.
(PS: You may find it chilling but all puns written above were intended.)
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