Back in the day, if you didn’t know what to give your Dad for his birthday, you proudly presented him with a bottle of Old Spice. Gift-wrapped it, too. It was the done thing. And no surprise. Dads and Old Spice were synonymous. They learned to accept it. But, somewhat wearily I think, my Dad managed to put on a look of disbelief and amazement each time I gave him a bottle. It was the only present I could afford on my pocket money. Amazon, Nykaa, Flipkart, JioMart, and BigBasket were not on the scene. So you could not order it online. But pharmacies sold Old Spice. It was the most popular after shave brand then. Over Brut, Denim, Aqua Velva, English Leather and Blue Stratos. The dominant fragrance of the 1970s and 80s was Musk. I can even today close my eyes and breathe in deeply, and the fragrance comes back to me. It was almost iconic. But I don’t need to do all that. Because Old Spice is back suddenly. I see it everywhere. In pop-up ads of e-commerce companies on my cell phone. On shelves of chemists and grocery stores. I don’t know where it went in the last two decades, but I am delighted to see the after shave lotion again. Nobody gave me Old Spice when I went on to become a man from being a boy. So I gifted myself a bottle last week. It looks the same. Smells the same. And is the same. A nostalgic boyhood fragrance that the familiar red box says is classic and modern and “peculiarly masculine”. Reminding me of the old composition in the popular ad campaign featuring a man on a surfboard with the tagline – “Old Spice – The Mark of a Man”. I don’t know what a man ought to smell like. But Old Spice is stimulating and refreshing. It cools and pacifies any tiny razor cuts and nicks I might have given myself. The box says it “puts you in command” post-shaving. I wonder what that means.
About Mark Manuel
The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.
With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.
Further
His interviews have featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.
Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.
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