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Face lift

MAKEOVER Dr. Narendra Pandya tells SOMA BASU how he "re-makes" individuals

GOOD LOOKS All for better appearance PHOTO: A.M. FARUQUI

FOR DR.Narendra Pandya, every individual is like a painting. And he sees himself no less than M.F.Husain. But he ain't any painter. Nor a sculptor. Rather, he is a "sculptor extraordinaire", known for "re-engineering" thousands of human bodies and faces for beauty enhancement.

"It is a wonderful feeling to make people happier and healthier by applying anti-aging techniques on them," says he, also dubbed the `father of Plastic Surgery' in India.

Because, he is the first and one of the rare few Diplomate of American Board of Plastic Surgery of the 1960s when the discipline was unheard of on home turf.

Initially treating accident, burn and leprosy-affected patients, Dr.Pandya shifted to "nose-jobs" (Rhinoplasty) in 1970s.

He was soon rechristened "Columbus of Cosmetic Surgery" as he began changing faces like never before.

Common phenomenon

What was a rarity has become more common now, he confirms. Though his appointments diary is littered with big and famous names from the celluloid industry to world of modeling, sports, business and politics, the "make-over" is no longer restricted to the rich and the famous.

The middle class is equally keen to change its entire looks and blow up cash because a better image fetches a better life is the belief," says Dr.Pandya, himself surprised at the quantum jump in his business by 30 per cent in last one year.

But none of his clients want to be seen with him in public.

"My VVIP patients get registered under my wife's name (a gynaecologist), check into the hospital after midnight with their maid servants.

The surgery is done in the night and they are discharged before dawn, before the world comes to know of it," he chuckles.

Ninety per cent of cinestars, 50 per cent of TV artistes, at least half of the Page 3 celebrities, each day have all gone under Dr.Pandya's scalpel either in Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore.

From inhabitants of Rashtrapati Bhavan to Cabinet Ministers, captains of the industry to sports celebrities, DJs and VJs - Dr.Pandya has "remade" them all.

The surgeon cannot name his clients yet in beauty, fitness and fashion driven industry, the names are a common knowledge.

This sexagenarian workaholic gets invited to at least two dozen high-society parties every week, thrown by his high-profile clients who are all "friends in secret."

Yet, each time I am introduced to them as if I am meeting them for the first time!, he says bemused.

That is the irony of this aesthetic surgeon's work.

For 12 hours a day, Dr.Pandya's nimble fingers weave magic not holding painting or make-up brush but knives, scalpels and needles.

A little tuck here and a nice lift there, the doctor works at all odd hours to carve out bigger eyes, chisel out higher cheek bones, mould fashionable noses, reshape body contours, redefine jaw lines, eliminate turkey necks, puff up lips, treat baggy eyes, smoothen laughlines and wrinkles.

Cosmetic surgery is a "secret beauty weapon" which nobody wants to admit wearing.

Beauty is something which everybody wants should stay naturally. But when that fails, people are driven by the need to satisfy their vanity.

And it does come cheaper nowadays. As a result, an increasing number of women — and men too — are willing to go beyond beauty parlours and make-up studios and opt for surgeries with a lasting effect.

But the job is highly challenging because patients' expectation is much higher.

"When somebody is sick and the doctor treats the patient to a level of wellness, he or she is happy. When a plastic surgeon restores a tissue that is damaged either in accident, fire or by disease, the patient is happy. But a cosmetic surgeon always has to surpass the normal because only healthy persons come for enhancement of body and looks."

Dr.Pandya is also wary of the pitfalls. Like a single shot of Botox, a chemical injected to iron out wrinkles instantly, is a rage now. "Only qualified surgeons should be administering this.

But since this once-in-three-months shot is a money spinner, beauticians and cosmetologists too are injecting it into clients who are in a hurry to look young and good," he worries.

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