Age is never just a number. It brings so much of change in one’s perception. Back home, rummaging through my old cuttings of tabloids published in the 90’s, I stumbled upon a picture of the ‘complete man’ advertised by a leading men’s textile and apparel brand in India.

This metrosexual, caring, family man was an embodiment of the complete man — a sensitive person who placed a huge premium on relationships.

This man was very different from the alpha male portrayed in the 70’s and 80’s, which was an ‘angry-young man’ era. Men at that time were tough and strong, went out in the world and ‘brought home the bacon’.

No wonder the polished and soft exterior of the complete man and the realms of his values, compassion and tranquility, shown in the ad, impressed many nubile girls, including me.

But now, almost 20 years on, I have experienced a huge change in my perception towards these images and the messages it sought to convey. Somehow now these connotations seem funny to me.

The ad had four sections showing different qualities of the complete man. In the first section, the protagonist held his briefcase close and frolicked in the rains with street urchins thus displaying his exuberance and compassion for poor children.

Perception

But over the years, this image has got distorted and now it appears as if he was merely enjoying his freedom by being far from his nagging wife and demanding boss.

Another section of the ad showed the tender relationship between father and daughter. The protagonist, wearing an apron, is holding his curly-haired daughter in his arms and waltzing with a beatific smile as if asking, “Tell me what I should cook for you as your mom is out of station.”

Then I felt this was a depiction of the world’s best father. Now, this acquires a new interpretation with the restructured question, “Leave food! What about a new mom for you?”

In one of the ads, this complete man is looking dapper in a crisply-ironed black satin suit, holding a flute of wine and being pampered by chic girls at a pub, thereby conveying the image of a philanderer.

Then he had an air of confidence about him, but now he seems more a model for a shampoo brand, gesturing at his black satin shoulders as if to convey, “See no more dandruff!”

Finally, he was portrayed as a successful businessman; a man dressed in a corporate striped shirt with gilt-edged cuff links, seated in front of the computer, suggesting a lucrative idea at a corporate boardroom.

Now when I see that picture I find that his intention seems to be to flaunt his gilt-edged cuff links, a symbol of his elite lifestyle.

So I laugh at all these interpretations and discard these tabloid cuttings from my repository of old treasures.

Ritu Dokania is an author based in Dubai.