My 3-E Mantra

How Do You Ignore E? 

“I command you to look cautiously at what is in front of you. It is a pity that I took six minutes, along with a painstaking synonym hunt to put forth a string of only about fifty words and still could not avoid using an alphabet that is most commonly put into application.”

Up there, I tried doing what Ernest Vincent Wright did in his 1939 novel, “Gadsby”: write without using the most commonly used letter in the English Alphabet: letter E. It took him a great deal of hard work to avoid ‘E’ (4 months plus the E key on the typewriter tied down) and he still ended up with a review saying, “at least part of Wright’s narrative issues were caused by language limitations imposed by the lack of E.”

P.S.- I breath a sigh of relief at this time after writing one whole paragraph with beloved E, especially after the arduous task of ignoring it in my opening paragraph. It feels exhilarating. E does serve a purpose too many for a writer, a blogger, like me!

However, it turns out there is more to E than the alphabet E (that keeps the writer’s pen moving). For one, we can most definitely consider Vitamin E (that keeps the being moving). For me, Vitamin E means more than the literal, and here are three levels of the being where I recommend my versions of Vitamin E: the personal mental level, the social level and at the health level.

For the mind, Vitamin E, is Enthusiasm! Enthusiasm is that state of the mind that can pull your body through the most mundane situations. Enthusiasm is what pumps me! A lack of it exhausts me even when the task is a trifle of work. Think about all the chores you did today. What was the distinguishing factor between those, whose memory makes you smile and those, whose memory makes you sigh? For sure, the existence of Vitamin Enthusiasm in the former and a deficiency of it in the latter. Filling the boring tasks with anything exciting- anything that fills one with exhilarating energy to do it, is the key to get those boring tasks done. Or better still- just drop things that do not enthuse you because as Charles Bukowski once said,

“Unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don’t do it!”

Next, for the social level, Vitamin E, is Emotional Intelligence! Too big to fill isn’t it? Perhaps! But absolutely worth it, when you know what are your needs and goals for your social world. Emotional Intelligence goes a long way, because firstly, one learns to understand emotions- of the self, and those of others along with taking full responsibility of them. Second, and this one I so much wish be ingrained in angry commuters in local trains- emotional arousal and impulse control. Sometimes, we just lose it - so to say! And while it does seem to do some temporary good by releasing pent up emotions, it is highly detrimental to those at the receiving end. In most situations then, it doesn’t matter any more how much one seems to be right and intelligent after failing in the task of disallowing emotions to completely override sanity.  

But at the end of the day, when I do have the first two equipped with me, why would I do away with the third and a pretty significant level at which Vitamin E operates- the health level? But what makes Vitamin E a go-to substance for good health? Firstly, its a proven antioxidant. It reduces the deterioration and visible signs of aging, prevents cancer, strokes, cataracts and heart disease. It enhances insulin function, and is a boon for diabetics. It also does good for the nervous system by protecting the myelin sheaths. As for the skin (and this is the part we all were waiting for ;) , externally applied or topical Vitamin E keeps the skin soft, moisturized, protects it against UV rays and sunburn, along with reducing wrinkles.

Vitamin E, the one at the health level, comes to me through breakfast, lunch and dinner albeit in little quantities. Either the yolk from the boiled egg or some cheese sandwiches in the morning; either rice-bran/ olive oil or spinach for the main meals. I do pop in a few almonds once in a while and when it is the right season, the trout is a must. So when Vitamin E, is so abundantly available, why deny the body of it and its immense benefits? Most importantly, it doesn’t take great effort or practise like my first two ideas of Vitamin E. Add to that, #Evion brings on the table doctor-recommended Evion Supplements, rich in Vitamin E for a healthy, enhanced and awesome lifestyle! 

Like Sir Vincent’s novel received an unfavourable review due to the language limitation due to the lack of E, like I hate writing a paragraph without E, like we hate to be the kind of person who does each and every task gloomily without Vitamin Enthusiasm, like everyone hates the arrogant commuters who spew expletives and evidently lack Vitamin Emotional Intelligence, anyone would hate a lifestyle that lacks the glow and beauty of Vitamin E! 

-Shahen Pardiwala

The number of times E appeared in this article: 479.