The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is the latest viral phenomenon on the Internet, thanks to celebrities and other opinion makers participating and continuing the interest by nominating others to the challenge. For those not in the know, the challenge became popular over the past two months; its primary aim being generating awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a neuro-degenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Participants dump a bucket of ice water over their heads, and if they find the cold unbearable, they are requested to donate 100 dollars to the ALS Association. Participants record themselves doing the challenge and then nominate others to participate, which they are usually required to do within 24 hours.
The fever reached Kochi when around 50 students of Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship in Kalamassery, responded to the challenge from their Dean and completed it. The students have decided to nominate other institutions to continue the momentum of the challenge, with their choices being XLRI, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, and Rajagiri Centre for Business Studies.
Indian celebrities have also jumped on the bandwagon, with Bipasha Basu, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Sonakshi SInha, Sania Mirza, Yuvraj Singh, and more taking the challenge and nominating others. The challenge has been praised for raising awareness about the disease but some quarters have criticised participants for not talking enough about the disease or giving information about donation options. Notable exceptions have been Charlie Sheen, Bill Gates and Sonakshi Sinha, who dropped an ice cube on her head, urged people not to waste water and donate instead.
The video of the students undertaking the challenge and naming their nominations can be found on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/xime2013. To donate to the ALS Association, visit: >http://www.alsa.org/donate/ .
