New Delhi: On Instagram, Sahil Kamra has 500 followers. Ample reason, the 23-year-old has concluded, for plastic surgery. So he has just got his nose and lips done, with his parents funding the three-hour and Rs 80,000 surgery.
"Now I click my selfies freely wherever and whenever i want at whichever angle i like. I feel better about myself, I feel more confident," said Sahil who is well aware that selfies are to Instagram what piano-playing kittens are to YouTube - crowd-pleasers.
To the perpetual disappointment of those not genetically camera-friendly or quaintly predisposed to privacy, this is not a world for the self-effacing. Kim Kardashian, who has turned her entire life into a reality show, allowing cameras to film her with additional 24X7 access through her social media accounts, celebrated 45 million Instagram followers on Wednesday. She acknowledged the "insta-love" with - what else - a Thank You selfie.
Mr Kamra has won instant gratification. "More people follow me on Instagram now, I get more likes on Facebook", he said sitting in a cafe. When asked whether one of many apps that exist to swipe away imperfections, he explains that he expects his surgery to deliver the ultimate real-life like as well - "I will be married in a couple of years so it helps".
He was handled by Dr Anup Dhir, who says that over the last two years, he has seen a 25% surge in patients wanting cosmetic surgery, most of them young. Vanity, it turns out, is a male thing. "Since the surge of Facebook and Instagram, a lot of people coming in are younger and many boys..in fact one third are boys... saying my upper lip is bigger than my lower, can you fix (it)?" he said at his clinic in South Delhi.
This, one would be tempted to conclude, is not a good reflection of prevailing self-esteem among the young. Dr Dhir concurs that his patients turn the mirror on themselves with unsparing scrutiny. "My eyes are droopy, nose is crooked, I have an ugly mole, my left profile doesn't match my right profile" are common grievances, he says.
Dr Dhir says he first counsels his young patients against made-for-camera surgery, stressing that some corrections may not be necessary. If that doesn't sit well, he proceeds - with caution, he emphasizes.
Impressed with what's she seen, Mr Kamra's friend, Harshita Sharma, is considering a nose job. The 23-year-old works in PR. Image, she says, is everything. "I click at least 30-40 selfies to get that perfect click, and then even after all the filters, it's not what I want... I just think if my nose was a bit slim, it would really up my selfie."
It isn't as if millennials or those a little older than them don't treasure inner beauty. If there were only a way to apply a filter and insta it.
"Now I click my selfies freely wherever and whenever i want at whichever angle i like. I feel better about myself, I feel more confident," said Sahil who is well aware that selfies are to Instagram what piano-playing kittens are to YouTube - crowd-pleasers.
To the perpetual disappointment of those not genetically camera-friendly or quaintly predisposed to privacy, this is not a world for the self-effacing. Kim Kardashian, who has turned her entire life into a reality show, allowing cameras to film her with additional 24X7 access through her social media accounts, celebrated 45 million Instagram followers on Wednesday. She acknowledged the "insta-love" with - what else - a Thank You selfie.
Mr Kamra has won instant gratification. "More people follow me on Instagram now, I get more likes on Facebook", he said sitting in a cafe. When asked whether one of many apps that exist to swipe away imperfections, he explains that he expects his surgery to deliver the ultimate real-life like as well - "I will be married in a couple of years so it helps".
Dr Dhir says he first counsels his young patients against made-for-camera surgery, stressing that some corrections may not be necessary. If that doesn't sit well, he proceeds - with caution, he emphasizes.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Disha Patani's Mirror Selfie In A Calvin Klein Set Replaces The Usual Monsoon Greys Brazil Influencer Who Spent $1 Million To Look Like Kim Kardashian Says Butt Lift Filler Left Her Infertile Old Pic Of Telegram CEO Resurfaces Online, Sparks Hair Transplant Rumours AAP Asks Its Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal To Quit Over Atishi Remarks "Your Duty...": Chief Justice On Bengal's 'No Night Shift For Women' Note Arvind Kejriwal Resigns After Choosing Atishi As His Replacement Pics: Supercars Line Up At The World's Largest Temple, Tourists Stunned IIT Kanpur Launches Project For UP Digital Health Stack New Kia Carnival MPV Gets Over 1,800 Pre-Orders Before Launch Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.