Ice Bucket Challenge comes to Bangalore

How does it feel to have a bucketful of ice dumped on you on a cool morning?
Well, the players of the Bengaluru Football Club experienced the chilling effect on Monday as they took up the “Ice Bucket Challenge”, the latest Internet fad that has even caught the fancy of bigwigs like Bill Gates and Usain Bolt. 

The “Ice Bucket Challenge” has been conceptualised to raise awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a slow death of the spinal cord and brain, leading to muscle twitching, loss of cognition and motor skills. There is no cure for the
condition yet.

The challenge is pretty simple. You dump a bucket of ice-cold water (or ice) on top of your head and then nominate your friends to do it. It’s not enough if you just empty the load on yourself. You need to have video proof as evidence. And it has to be done within 24 hours of the challenge being issued to you.

What if you don’t accept the challenge? Then you are urged to donate $100 to the ALS charity. Most people have contributed to the charity even after taking the icy shower.

The BFC were challenged by tennis ace Rohan Bopanna on Sunday and they were game for it. Eleven players and support staff got ice dumped on them at the Bangalore Football Stadium.

To give a measure of how enthusiastic they were about the challenge, even Mustafa Ghouse, the CEO of JSW Sports, the company that owns BFC, went for it. Chief coach Ashley Westwood preferred to do the pouring rather than being at the receiving end of an act that has reportedly raised $5.5 million so far from July 29.

The BFC, who uploaded the video on YouTube, in turn challenged tennis star Sania Mirza, badminton ace Ashwini Ponnappa and cricketer  Yuvraj Singh. Will Yuvraj, Ashwini and Sania oblige? We will know by Tuesday night.