In Manipur,beauty lies in the eyelid of the Aryan

Demand grows for cosmetic surgery to change Mongoloid features

Last year,Dr Khundongbam Palin,Manipurs leading plastic surgeon,got an unusual request. An army officers Manipuri wife wanted Aryan eyes,meaning eyelids with folds that would make her look less Mongoloid. And soon after her operation,she brought her daughter for an eyelid and nose job.

Her daughter studied in Class 10 and the lady wanted her to not have Asian eyes and also to have a more Aryan nose. That is,a higher bridge in the nose instead of a flatter,upturned nose which is what the Mongoloid races have, said Dr Palin,who performed the surgery. She said she didnt want her daughter to go through life looking the way she did.

The army wife herself got her eye job saying whenever she went to army parties with other army wives,she felt out of place and uncomfortable. Cases like hers are steadily on the rise in the northeastern state,which is seen as ironical in a region that has been proud of its distinct identity and stood up to discrimination based on appearance. And when they refer to the Asian look,they mean Mongoloid.

Besides cosmetic procedures such as liposuction that are common in the rest of the country,Manipur witnesses two predominant requests: rhinoplasty or nose jobs and eye-fold surgeries. Dr Palin explained that Mongoloid eyelids have just one stretch of skin with little or no folds,making the eyes look narrower and more slanted. Aryan eyelids,on the other hand,have a deep,predominant fold at the base,making the eyes look larger.

One of the main reasons why people want to get these kinds of eyes right now is because of the influence of Hollywood and Bollywood. I have patients bringing photos of their favourite actresses,like one patient brought a photograph of Nicole Kidman and wanted eyes and a nose like hers, said Dr Palin. They dont want to look Chinki.

Even a couple of years ago,only 20 per cent of all plastic surgeries in Manipur were cosmetic surgeries. Over the past year,this figure has risen to 50 per cent. Mostly the middle and the upper-middle class come for surgeries,including wives of corporate executives and IAS officers. Often for the young people,parents are blackmailed into funding the surgeries with children refusing to go to college or to work if its not done. Parents have told me that they give in because they feel their children will have better self-esteem or would be happier, Dr Palin said.

The craze is apparently not limited to Manipur. Eye-fold surgery is the most popular cosmetic procedure in South Korea,where actors and actresses commonly get their eyes operated. Its obviously an issue of low self-esteem coupled with stereotypes of what is attractive. And in this country,the Aryan look is considered more attractive than the Asian look, said Dr Palin.

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In Manipur,only the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and the private Shija Hospitals have plastic surgery departments. But only Shija Hospitals,which Dr Palin owns,conducts cosmetic surgeries. Last year,Shija operated 56 patients for eye-fold procedures and enquiries for the same have quadrupled this year. Many actresses in the state such as Kamla Devi and Sunita Devi have gotten eye-fold surgeries done.

Eye-fold surgery is popular among all age groups in Manipur with patients ranging anything between 20 and 50 years. The largest group,however,is in its Twenties,although last week,Dr Palin got a 60-year-old woman who wanted eye-fold surgery done.

The rise in the number of cosmetic surgeries also indicates Manipurs economy is strengthening and people have disposable incomes to afford such procedures. It helps that cosmetic surgery in Manipur is relatively cheap. An eye-fold surgery at Shija costs Rs 22,000. In Bangalore,it would cost around Rs 65,000,and over Rs 1 lakh in Mumbai. Which is why a large number of northeastern people living in Bangalore and Chennai are now flying down to Shija for such surgeries.