ALS Ice Bucket Challenge- The reason why many took up this challenge

We have been witnessing with a whole lot of anxiety a few weeks back, as to why many are dumping a bucket full of ice on their heads. The popularity of this challenge increased when many celebrities started taking up this challenge. I did mean to talk about the #ALSIceBucketChallenge that has gained popularity recently. I think this is not longer a trendy topic to discuss at all, but I feel this is the time to remind us of this challenge that was taken up by a large number of people all round the globe.

 The day Mark Zukernberg and Bill Gates took up this challenge, many of us started noticing the ice bucket challenge and the reason why many are taking up the challenge with smiles on their faces actually puzzled us. The real reason for many to take up this challenge is to spread awareness of the ALS disease or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This is also popular as the “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that tends to affect the motor neurons in the brain as well as in the spinal cord.

Major symptoms of this disease include weakening of muscles. The affected ones find it difficult to move their legs or hands. The worst part is that ALS affected ones lose the ability to speak, swallow or move around. So I think this disease is a kind of scary even to imagine for a while.

As a person living in the southern tip of the Indian sub continent, I was not at all aware of this disease. The day when I saw one of my friend’s (Gayathri Rema) Daughter (Lulu) taking up the ice bucket challenge, I started noticing this challenge for the first time. I was actually shocked to see the small girl pouring a bucket full of ice cold water on top of her. This is when I started reading more about the ALS ice bucket challenge and started gathering information regarding the same.

The challenge that really shook me the most, was the ice bucket challenge taken by David Kurt McClain, who was a victim of the ALS for past 12 years. The smiling face of this guy actually gave me a positive vibe, and made me think of how people can smile even after facing great difficulties in life. The ice challenge that he took up was actually heart breaking. But I do appreciate his courage a lot. This was the time when I understood why people are taking up this challenge with all their hearts.

There have been a lot of ice bucket challenges taken up by many round the globe. But it is good at times to think of the gifts we are enjoying right now. Live and let live, but do have some amount of compassion for fellow beings. Life is not all about living luxuriously or differently, it is all about loving and caring for those around. Taking up the ice bucket challenge will not help in any way for those affected. But it does look as a gesture that shows that people still care for others. Let us all hope that medical science would provide some kind of miracle to root out this disease from the face of the earth.