The mid-life crises of entitled powerful men
By: Bhavin Jankharia
This tribe of Entitled Powerful Men (EPM) is quite visible. People who have “made it-”…CEOs, promoters, scions of old business houses and those who are part of the upper echelons of various organizations… always in front, never looking back! The best way to identify them is by the way they travel… always business and first class, to the extent that they will sacrifice the convenience of an earlier or later flight on Indigo, just so that they can travel business class on Jet Airways or rarely Air India (and they hate the fact that Kingfisher failed), trying hard to avoid rubbing shoulders with the cattle class they have long left behind.
Their world-view is completely skewed. Even if they have come from humble beginnings, the trappings of an entitled living, even for a year, changes values completely. And with this comes the fawning…from interns, juniors, customers and colleagues, both men and women…who feel elated to just bask in the glow that comes off these super-beings.
This satisfies a growing libido. But as the EPMs enter their 50s, a layer of insecurity sets in fuelled by a mid-life existential crisis that spares no one. Not every advance to every woman is successful! When you are young, you shrug it off and move on. In the late 40s and 50s, the slight becomes difficult to bear, making the EPM wonder if he is finally losing his magic touch…his power, his charisma… and rejection becomes very difficult to digest!
And this leads to desperation. At the slightest hint that a woman might be interested, an EPM, especially with the help of a little alcohol, will go all out to prove to himself again and again that he still has it when it comes to women.
And so we have the ageing superstar with a recent six-pack who actually goes and marries one of his co-stars and then when his wife goes on a rampage, begs all the journalists he knows to suppress the story.
Then there is the mid-50s CEO who keeps mistresses in at least five cities of the world, each with her own flat and “handsome” salary.
And so can you really blame the greying journalist who, a few drinks down, thinks that his protege / junior who looks up to him, also seems to be giving him signals that she is sexually interested and then acts on that? It is hard-wired into the DNA of being an EPM.
What must have completely caught him offguard would have been the rebuff, because that is something he would have least expected and would have reinforced the fact that he was perhaps now losing it, which in turn would have made him want to try even harder a second time.
And you can’t blame his starry-eyed managing editor, who while otherwise competent and in control, would not be able to use the same high standards she sets for herself and others when it came to her boss, thus skewing all future responses.
It happens all the time and will continue to happen for eternity.
Whether it is the President of a powerful country or an incumbent Prime Minister of a country on the cusp of independence, it is virtually impossible to resist the lure of women attracted to the pull of power.
Entitled Powerful Men are dangerous. Those with a mid-life crisis…even more so!
Liked/hated his column? Write to Bhavin Jankharia at bhavin.mm@gmail.com, Tweets@bhavinj
This tribe of Entitled Powerful Men (EPM) is quite visible. People who have “made it-”…CEOs, promoters, scions of old business houses and those who are part of the upper echelons of various organizations… always in front, never looking back! The best way to identify them is by the way they travel… always business and first class, to the extent that they will sacrifice the convenience of an earlier or later flight on Indigo, just so that they can travel business class on Jet Airways or rarely Air India (and they hate the fact that Kingfisher failed), trying hard to avoid rubbing shoulders with the cattle class they have long left behind.
Their world-view is completely skewed. Even if they have come from humble beginnings, the trappings of an entitled living, even for a year, changes values completely. And with this comes the fawning…from interns, juniors, customers and colleagues, both men and women…who feel elated to just bask in the glow that comes off these super-beings.
Powerful men become magnets of attraction. And soon they get used to having their way with everyone, including women…it is a small percentage of this group that is able to remain monogamous.
This satisfies a growing libido. But as the EPMs enter their 50s, a layer of insecurity sets in fuelled by a mid-life existential crisis that spares no one. Not every advance to every woman is successful! When you are young, you shrug it off and move on. In the late 40s and 50s, the slight becomes difficult to bear, making the EPM wonder if he is finally losing his magic touch…his power, his charisma… and rejection becomes very difficult to digest!
And this leads to desperation. At the slightest hint that a woman might be interested, an EPM, especially with the help of a little alcohol, will go all out to prove to himself again and again that he still has it when it comes to women.
And so we have the ageing superstar with a recent six-pack who actually goes and marries one of his co-stars and then when his wife goes on a rampage, begs all the journalists he knows to suppress the story.
Then there is the mid-50s CEO who keeps mistresses in at least five cities of the world, each with her own flat and “handsome” salary.
And so can you really blame the greying journalist who, a few drinks down, thinks that his protege / junior who looks up to him, also seems to be giving him signals that she is sexually interested and then acts on that? It is hard-wired into the DNA of being an EPM.
What must have completely caught him offguard would have been the rebuff, because that is something he would have least expected and would have reinforced the fact that he was perhaps now losing it, which in turn would have made him want to try even harder a second time.
And you can’t blame his starry-eyed managing editor, who while otherwise competent and in control, would not be able to use the same high standards she sets for herself and others when it came to her boss, thus skewing all future responses.
It happens all the time and will continue to happen for eternity.
Whether it is the President of a powerful country or an incumbent Prime Minister of a country on the cusp of independence, it is virtually impossible to resist the lure of women attracted to the pull of power.
Entitled Powerful Men are dangerous. Those with a mid-life crisis…even more so!
Liked/hated his column? Write to Bhavin Jankharia at bhavin.mm@gmail.com, Tweets@bhavinj
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's own. The opinions and facts expressed here do not reflect the views of Mirror and Mirror does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
