Friday, July 21, 2006

Weather forecast - Sunny and sneezy today, storm expected tomorrow

Namaskar. Aaj ke mukhya samachar.

My Marketing Manager popped by my cubicle to ask me what my parents think about the Pakistan trip. I didn't have an answer for him. I haven't called them yet, I'm still rehearsing what to say and how. I will call them tomorrow and tell them even though I am really nervous. But I was sitting in Komalas today, having sev puri, when songs from Veer-Zaara started playing and I think that's a good sign.

In local news, if you live in Singapore... no no no this is not another survey! So where was I?... Yeah, if you live in Singapore and have some time to spare tomorrow, drop by Singapore Polytechnic to support the Student Volunteer Corps Olympic Dream - a campaign for athletes with disabilities. (I'm helping them raise money by setting up an all-day henna stall at their carnival, and I promised them I'd do a lil publicity for them on my blog.) Swim a lap or two and help them raise money. You have nothing to lose.

Errr... Except for the $5 registration fee and some flab around the waist.

Samachar samaapt hue.
==============================================

So this kid sends a letter addressed to my science magazine. They often send really cute questions to a section called 'Ask the experts', and my science writers answer their questions.

His question was, "Why do I sneeze when I step out in the sun?"

If I could, I'd have hugged him!

Reason -- I suffer from the same 'sneeze in sun' syndrome. Once I stepped out of an airconditioned room into the sun, and sneezed 32 times. Not fun. :|

So I googled to find out more and this is what I got.

Close association between the eye’s optic nerve and nerves causing the sneeze reflex may explain why an estimated 5-25% of people sneeze with sudden exposure to bright sunlight or other light sources. Sudden bright stimulation of the eye that occurs after a person has become adapted to darker surroundings is thought to bring on the condition, known as photic sneeze reflex.


5-25% of the people? I think not. My colleagues seemed pretty surprised when I told them about it. I don't think it's that common. I think it's just three ultra cool people who have this ability. The cool kid, the cool Sayesha... and before Mithunda can jump in and ask "Teesra kaun?", it's the very cool Scott Adams. Yes yes, the Dilbert wala.

And here's the really funny part.

The reflex is also known as Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome.

Also known by the acronym ACHOO.

I have ACHOO. Do you have ACHOO? :D



56 comments:

Princessse said...

*******GggggggggggoOOOOOOOOoooooLLLLLLLLLLLDddddddddddddddddddd***********
Can't believe it man.. just can't believe it!!!!!!!

Let me catch my breath first :p

Shekhar said...

SILVER.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Aur kya sahi post hai bidu....!!!!

:D

Shekhar said...

Better still....ACHOO post !!!! ;)

Anonymous said...

I know that I cannot claim bronze as anonymous, but let me atleast stop somelese from claiming that!

Anonymous said...

No, you cannot stop me... perhaps you meant someone else and not 'somelese'.

harsh chirania said...

Hey i also suffer from the same "sneeze in sun" syndrome. Really .. whenever i go out in the sun.. i start sneezing. Once i sneezed like 18 times in a go. My friends laughed when i said them tht i sneeze when i go out.. Chalo now i have someone who knows wat is it like.

Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome.
..... y do doctors have such typical names for syndromes??

Sakshi said...

Me too me too.. But i also suffer from the reverse.. Any change in weather :-(

Anonymous said...

hee hee,..

'ask the expert'..

hee hee..

reminded me of a column that 'full of crap but still interesting' and my favourite mumbai mirror has everyday.

it has one extra 's' somewhere in the above title.

toh.. best of luck for the storm!
and take some live pics, k??
and post them!

chaliye bye!

Born a Libran said...

I wonder which cool dude came up with the name ACHOO? BTW, I do have ACHOO I think... I didnt know it was ACHOO till now but I do have it... Good to know every 20th person in the world has it too (?)

Thanu said...

y do our eyes close when we sneeze..
freaks me out when I'm driving and I wanna sneeze

R said...

I've the SAME problem!
Damn, I have had to step out a lot from office and stuff, and now I'm running temperature :'(

Anonymous said...

and whats the really funny part
:|

Preethi said...

Well.. mereko waise hi ACHOO hain... *sneezes again for the 2000th time in a day*
Acha chal.. all the best tereko.
Aur mera display pic notice kar... :)

Preethi said...

Thanu, we close our eyes when we sneeze coz its not in our control, and that its a involuntary action taken by our brain.
And one more fact on sneezes, if you try to control your sneeze and try to stop it, your nerves will burst!

And haan.. bolna bhool gayi... mereko bhi hain yaar this ACHOO thingy... Ek baar AC se bahar aajaun to sneeze karungi, ya to sneeze ka feeling ayega mujhe!!
So I dont think this thing is not that uncommon...

Anonymous said...

that's what causes it? then i have ACHOO too! only that i'd always put it down to the difference in temperature when stepping into the sunshine from an air-conditioned office.

Anonymous said...

Huh. I always sneeze when I dance naked in the snow.

dharmu said...

bahi, i finally make it time to catch all your posts. return to desk has kept me so freaking busy that i dint have time to write my own blogs, er.. but i could not resist reading urs. so today, came early to work, uh??? and finished reading all your posts.

so humari tapori bhai pak jaarahi he??? cool re, wahan danga fasad mat karna. waise hi log tumse darte hain, une aur mat darana. ok???

and tell ma-pa that u r going there for peace talks, tak" se maanenge.

Anonymous said...

ACHOO! ACHOO! what a coincidence ...am down with cold n cough for 2 days n u write a post on sneezes :P ACHOO!!
I liked tht ACHOO thng..."Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome" beemari ka itna bada naam sunke emotional outburst ho jaayega ...hehehe
tc.
wish you good luck for patofying parents (Y)
sakhi.

Unknown said...

hehehe

ACHOO? LOL!! Thanks for the info dear :D
Btw.. what was on ur mind while writing this post... Seemed to be in a real funny mood eh? ;)

OMG!! Just wondering what would we do w/o google?!?! :P:P

Great one dear..
Take care,
Aarti

Iday said...

32 times??? someone said 18 times!!!
that's bad me thinks!!!

I know this is not a disease or something. I'm sure sneezing 32 times wont be fun!!! Is there any preventive medicine for this ACHOO thing???

Sudeep said...

liked the storm expected tomorrow part in the title.. best of luck for the call

lol @ Veer Zaraa songs

thnx for tht info.. no wonder the sound is ACHOO.
i dont suffer frm it..

Daroga said...

No i dont have ACHOO.... waise...nice facto !!!
All the best for ur Trip to Pakistan... Njoy....

Dev said...

Hey, I've that problem, but it's when I step inside the air conditioned room.
I guess I have OOHCA! (Oxymoronic Outburst of Helio due to Conditioned Air)
How ultra cool is that?

Oh well, I've always been known to stand out in a crowd.
OOHCA! God bless! :P

Adnan Siddiqi said...

AAaaaaaChoooooooooooooooooooooo

*wipes his nose*

haan kia kahrahe thee tum??

qsg said...

As a matter of fact, I suffer from Achoo too! :) This has been rather educational, considering I was having this discussion with a co-worker a few days ago, when we got into the car, and we both sneezed! :) timely!

educatedunemployed said...

Hahaha, a good find this one.No I do not have achoo.:)

Sayesha said...

#Princesse,
Tum bas gold lekar chali gayi?? :O

#Shekhar,
Heheheh! Nice try pretending that you read the post! Kya re Shekhar, yeh silver ke chaar pieces liye...? Waaaaa :'(

#Shekhar,
Ah, NOW I know you read it. :D

#Anon,
Just identify yourself and take your bronze man! :D

#Somelese,
Hahahahahaha! *pauses to catch breath* Hahahahahaha! :D

#Adi,
Hahhaha! Lagta hai Bhai ne baki training ke saath ACHOO training bhi de di tujhe :D

#Sakshi,
Hehehe... I get the reverse too... when I walk in the sun from the bus stop to my office and then enter the air-conditioned environment. But I don't sneeze as much as in the reverse case :)

#Satish,
Nautankibaaz! Tujhe bahut maza aa raha hai meri predicament dekhkar, hai na? X-(

#Libran,
Hehehehe... must be a doc with a sense of humour :)

#Thanu,
The sneezing reflex involves a lot of muscles in our body, including the facial ones that close the eyelids. Some scientists say that we close our eyes to prevent sneeze particles from getting inside... but I dunno what is the real scientific reason...
ps: Some drivers break their sneezes into two smaller ones and deliver them without closing their eyes! :O

#Rohit,
Office se itna step out karta hi kyun hai? ;)

#Anon,
Errr.. I thought the acronym was really apt and funny, but looks like you didn't. To each his own. :)

#Smiling Gal,
Tera wala ACHOO is different yaar! And yeh kya fungus laga diya display pic par?? :O :D

#Kel Tamashek,
Hehehe.. even I used to think it was temperature difference :P

#Singh,
I'm so glad you don't have a photo-blog. :D

#Dharmu,
Hahahah! Peace talks! If I try that line, mere ghar ka peace hil jayega! :D

#Sakhi,
Hehehehee! :D
Thanks, dear! :)

#Aarti,
I can't believe you spotted it. Yeah, I was in a really mixed-emotions type of mood... something like:
:O -> :'( -> :) -> :O -> :| -> :) -> :D
ps: Jai Google! :)

#Iday,
Preventive medicine? Naah, preventive action yes... don't open your eyes too wide when out in the sun. :)

#Sudeep,
Thanks :)

#Adarsh,
You mean 'All the best for trying to get permission to go to Pakistan', don't you? I dun even know if the trip is happening yet :'(

#Dev,
Hahahaha! I have a slight case of OOHCA too! :P

#Adnan,
Hum keh reha they "Bless you!" :)

#Gemini,
:)

Sayesha said...

#Educated,
Arre missed your comment! Welcome back, long time no see :)

Unknown said...

achoooooooooooo!

i have autosomal dominant compelling cranial outburst syndrome.
my head asplode!

oxymoron said...

coming straight from pakeezah:-
sayeshaji, aap ki naak bahut sensitive hai,
isse sunlight main mat rakhiyega, sneezing shuru ho jayegi!
--aap ki naak ka shubhchintak!

hahaaaaaa
PS:
i have the reverse ACHOO syndrome. i sneeze when i come from under the sun to an aircon area.

R said...

Why, an intern is not allowed to? Huh? HUH? HUH? :O :O :O

Plus, I have the advantage and hence, I stick it out to meetings with Boss :P

Shekhar said...

Mere ko aisa samjha.....

:(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Anonymous said...

//I'm so glad you don't have a photo-blog. :D

I do, but no one wants to see it. :(

Anonymous said...

__________
Nautankibaaz! Tujhe bahut maza aa raha hai meri predicament dekhkar, hai na? X-(
__________

haan. :))

remember the scene frm matrix reloaded wen 'apna neo' goes to oracle??

neo: are you saying that i have to choose whether trinity lives ar dies?

oracle: no, you have already made a choice, now you have to understand it.

now, i dont exactly understand what it means, par sayad, even you know that you are gonna do watever ur parents tell u to do, so why the predicament??

ask them, try to convince them, if they say 'yes' enjoy and give us all a party, if they say 'no' tell them that u have troubles travelling in taxies, and so u need a car of ur own!

uhh! that was quite impressive!( i am an esssmmart-s!!)

Adnan Siddiqi said...

ayesha :)

May you also get infinite blessings of God.Ameen

bellydancer said...

haha can't wait to count the no of times you sneeze the next time you open your eyes wide in the sun!

Anusha said...

ACHOO? How cool is that? Wow, I don't have it, but it totally seems like a brilliant syndrome to have.

"Hey, I have ACHOO!"

"Er, bless you."

"No, dude, I have ACHOO!"

"Bless you again. And er, dude, use a hanky."

"Sigh. Never mind."

Hee. ACHOO. Man, somebody on the syndrome-naming team has a wacky sense of humour. :)

Unknown said...

LOL Sash...

Your mood swings were awesome.. I mean the way you expressed them to me :P:P

And me spotting your mood.. Hmmm..
Hum hum hai.. Baaki sab paani kam hai hehehehe :P:P

Take care,
Aarti

Movie Mazaa said...

its a different kind of achoo for me. neednt hv the sun over my head, all it needs is someone staring at my nose for some time. no joke! all u need is a small, tiny, really miniscule little finger on ur left hand; just poke my nose with that itsy-bitsy tip, and I am done. for the next few minutes, banging my head around and sneezing my guts out.

well..u got me started here...achhhooooooooooooooo!

:)

NB: I cant believe i havent come across ur blog till now. :)

Ravi said...

Well Im here after a long break. Meri yaad to nahi aayi? :)

So you have this ACHOO syndrome. You are lucky you've found out the reason for your sneezes. I sneeze in the most unlikeliest of places. I am trying to decipher what exactly I am allergic to for a long long time. :(

Princessse said...

Well.. i just dont know what it was about the gold my dear.. I was just absolutely speechless..! :D

P.s. am waiting for next weather update dear ... kya hua? Border ke uss paar jaane ki koi taaza news?

Unknown said...

kya re? baat hui? waiting for update. my islamabad friend will be in islamabad in september. you will be in good hands. this is extra info to support your case if you haven't had parent-child discussion yet.

R said...

I WAS WAITING TO READ IF YOU'RE GETTING TO GO OR NOT! UPDATE!


X-(

Sayesha said...

#Ipanema Gal,
Hahahaha! Watch your asploding head, gal. We have a party to attend tonight! ;)

#Oxy,
Hahahah!! Aajkal aapki creativity toh aasmaan (a)chhoo rahi hai! ;)

#Rohit,
Achha achha yeh baat hai :)

#Shekhar,
Arre chill yaar... tera comment hi aisa vague sa tha :P

#Baahu,
First time? Welcome! :)
I haven't spoken to my parents about it... called them but did not say anything about it...

#Singh,
Hahahah! And I'm not surprised... especially if you've uploaded the naked snow dance pics! :D

#Satish,
//Haan. :))

Hahahahah! That totally cracked me up. Could imagine your smug grin as you wrote that. Haan it seems! :D

Thanks for the gyan, Mr Esssmmart... will let ya know what happened :)

#Adnan,
Ayesha... achha naam diya hai aapne... mera nahin hai... but I like it :)
Thanks for the wishes :)

#Bellydancer,
Hahaha! Why, you didn't have enough when you caught the live demo on Friday afternoon, eh? :D

#Venky,
Khabardaar jo ACHOO gang ke baare mein ulta seedha bola.. agar hum sab ek saath ACHOO karein na... tu ud jayega! :D

#Clueless,
Hahaha! Yeah, aren't you glad there are still docs around who have a sense of humour? :)

#Aarti,
Wah wah! Paani kam hain it seems! :D

#Velu,
Welcome to Sayeshaz! :) Bless you! :D

//just poke my nose with that itsy-bitsy tip

Hahaha! I ain't doin' no pokin' buddy! To each, his own (nose). :D

#Ravi,
Hey man! Long time no see! Kahan they bhai? :D

#Princesse,
Border paar ki koi khabar nahin ab tak... talked to my parents yesterday.. but did not bring this up... will try to do it tonight :)

#Ipanema Gal,
Nahin yaar.. ab tak baat nahin ki is baare mein... will keep you updated...

#Rohit,
:'(
Tu daant raha hai?? Woh bhi caps mein?? :'(

Baat nahin ki is baare mein ab tak... will call them tonight...

Adnan Siddiqi said...

oh Sayesha!

I applogize,I thought that "S" is some prefix in your name.Never heard such name.What does it mean?Is it an arabic or persian name?

Anonymous said...

____
Thanks for the gyan, Mr Esssmmart... will let ya know what happened :)
____

:">

hee hee!

main saanse rok ke rakha hua hun, u need to hurry up!

oxymoron said...

ji shukriya!
aap hi se hi seekha!

Joe said...

Kuch Lete Kyom Nahii?

joe/

kumarldh said...

bas 32 sneezes
wat about 6 sneezes per minute
I have broken my all previous records
I suffer from this strange alergy
in humid season I sneeze and sneeze and sneeze and...
and doctor say its stress.
and this happens only in the month of July/August/Spetember when mausam in India is too hot and humid
ACHOOO
U wont believe I have alredy sneezed 5-6 times

Sayesha said...

#Adnan,
No need to apologise... I figured you thought so cos your blog is kadnan.blogspot.com and you are Adnan. :)

Sayesha is my blog identity. Apparently it means
'princess of hearts/attained with great desire'.

#Satish,
Dekha sabse pehle tujhe hi bataya! :)

#Oxy,
Hahaha! Shabash chelaram! :D

#Joe,
Hahaha! :D

#Chetan,
Achha baba you win! Ab khush? :D

Raj said...

No, I don't have achoo.

So I guess I'm not part of the ulta-cool tribe of weirdos. How cool! :D

Sayesha said...

#Raj,
//So I guess I'm not part of the ulta-cool tribe of weirdos. How cool! :D

Tere ek ek word se jealousy ki booooo aa rahi hai! BOOOOOO! :D

#Fishy,
Haha! I guess she does! :)

GuNs said...

I have that too !!
Achoo !!

LOL, when I was in school, I used to brag about it coz there was a kid in school who could BURP at will (lol, I know its gross but in school, gross things are cool...). I used to say that I can sneeze at will.

I am going to wiki for it right now and see if its anything dangerous !!

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

Sayesha said...

#Guns,
Let us know about your findings! :O
ps: I have a friend who can burp at will too! :O

Anonymous said...

Your are Nice. And so is your site! Maybe you need some more pictures. Will return in the near future.
»

Stupidosaur said...

I had this when I was a kid.
In fact I used to look at the sun with eyes partially closed deliberately to sneeze!

I kinda enjoyed the sun induced sneezes.

(Un?)fortunately it wen't away as I grew up.

//I think it's just three ultra cool people who have this ability.

I guess you are right. It is an indicator of coolness. Mine reduced as I grew up ;)