Moumita, 32, always had a problem with her husband's crooked nose. It was the one sore point in the relationship of an otherwise happily married couple. Last month Moumita took her husband, Dhiresh, to a plastic surgeon to fix his nose. She had been saving up for the past two years to gift her husband that perfect nose.
Dhiresh had been reluctant to go under the scalpel at first. But the Pujas are looming, and finally, the prospect of looking good during the festive season made him relent.
'I am so excited that this year when we visit Calcutta during the Pujas, our friends and relatives will see an even more handsome Dhiresh. This is the best Puja gift I ever got,' says the Bangalore-based Moumita.
It's not just Moumita. The Pujas seem to have become a boom time for cosmetic surgery, with hordes of men and women going for procedures like botox fillers, nose correction, breast enhancement, tummy tuck and even chin reduction — all because they want to look their best during the festive season.
In fact, if plastic surgeons are to be believed, the rush starts right in August. 'The demand for plastic surgery peaks before the Pujas,' says Dr Aniruddha Bose, a veteran plastic surgeon in Calcutta. 'Usually the demand for botox and fillers tops the list, followed by double chin reduction, tummy trim and facelift,' he adds.
Take Anuradha Basu, a 38-year-old tax professional from Garia. The mother of two had wrinkles on her face and bags under her eyes which made her look much older than her age. Endless sessions at beauty parlours had failed to remove them. 'Everybody wants to look their best during the Pujas. As a working woman this is the only time of the year when I get to socialise. So I don't want to look old and tired now. I have spent lakhs on expensive facials — with no result. So I was determined to get a facelift,' says a glowing Anuradha who looks as young as a teenager now.
Cosmetic surgeons feel that one reason for the rise in demand for such procedures before the Pujas is that people have lost their fear of cosmetic surgery. Says Dr Anupam Golash of the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, 'When I practised abroad, I used to see a huge rush for cosmetic surgeries before Christmas. I am witnessing the same trend here now before the Pujas. From simple botox and mole removals to nose surgeries, patients are queuing up for them all. If in a usual day I treat 5-10 such patients, before the Pujas the number increases to 15-20,' says Dr Golash.
Indeed, most plastic surgeons agree that they get patients in droves prior to the Pujas. Says Dr Manoj Khanna, a veteran plastic surgeon, who runs two clinics in Delhi and Mumbai, besides having a thriving practice in Calcutta, 'The number of my patients increases by 30 to 40 per cent during this time of the year. People of all ages — from 16 to 60 — flock to my chamber. This mad rush starts two months before the Pujas and goes on till the New Year celebrations.'
He adds that besides botox and fillers, chemical peeling, microdermabrasion, scar removal through laser technology are also high on demand. 'This year, I have a lot of patients in Delhi who are coming for quick fixes, since they will be busy playing cards till Dussehra,' chuckles Dr Khanna, who also gets patients who want to fix their baldness and add some volume to their thinning hair before the Pujas.
And it's not just Calcuttans who opt to spruce themselves up surgically before the Pujas. Bengalis from the US and the UK too come here at this time to get their cosmetic procedures done. 'These treatments are cheaper in India. So most non-resident Indians (NRIs) combine this with their shopping and visits to relatives at this time,' explains Dr Rajarshi Banerjee, a plastic surgeon attached to Apollo Gleneagles, who is treating a lot of NRI patients this year.
Dr Banerjee, too, has witnessed a 20-40 per cent rise in the number of patients wanting cosmetic procedures at this time of the year. 'Patients who come to me are generally not satisfied with their overall looks. They usually want to fix puffiness around the eyes and iron out the wrinkles before the Pujas,' he says.
But then, there are those who want more elaborate cosmetic procedures. And the Pujas are as good a time as any to have them. Take the case of Priyasha Sengupta, a 17-year-old from Beckbagan, Calcutta. Priyasha had an inferiority complex about her flat chest. 'I wanted to look fuller. So I decided to go for breast enhancement surgery. And I thought that if I have to do it, then why not before the Pujas? I want to look like a filmstar during the Pujas,' says a confident Priyasha, who underwent the surgery 15 days ago.
The Pujas are also the time when models and actresses want to look their best because they feature in fashion shows. 'An A-list national model came to me a few weeks ago for liposuction since she could not get rid of the stubborn fat around her waist. She has been selected by an Italian designer for his show before the Pujas,' says Dr Khanna.
Not that the treatments come cheap. A vial of botox costs about Rs 15,000 and any correctional surgery will set you back by Rs 1 lakh or so.
Experts warn, however, that there are pitfalls to quick-fix cosmetic procedures. 'One should be careful about botox and fillers as these are often injected by non-dermatologists, and might lead to partial paralysis of the injected area. Besides, it's not a permanent solution,' says beauty consultant Suparna Trikha.
Others say that mere cosmetic surgery, without the necessary lifestyle changes, is counterproductive. 'Many patients undergo procedures such as liposuction, but then start eating mindlessly during the Pujas, rendering the operation ineffective. A lot of discipline and hard work is required to maintain what you achieve through surgeries,' says plastic surgeon Dr Manish Mukul Ghosh of Columbia Asia Hospital.
And, of course, there are those who feel that Pujas or not, an artificial enhancement of one's looks is needless and ultimately harmful. As June Maliah points out, 'The moment you take that first shot of botox you are trapped for life. Because, if you don't repeat it, you end up with a saggy spot which is uglier than a natural one.'
Clearly, that observation will not cut much ice with the hordes who want to look impressive during the Pujas. By hook or by crook.
(The names of patients have been changed to protect their identities)
Cosmetic Craze
The demand for plastic surgery increases by 20-40 per cent during two months before the Pujas in Calcutta
What it costs
Rhinoplasty Rs 60,000
Breast implant Rs 1 lakh
Tummy tuck Rs 80,000
Botox Rs 12,000
Facelift Rs 1.5 lakh
Fillers Rs 50,000
