People, everywhere in the world, are motivated by a similar desire for eternal youth. They don’t want to grow old gracefully; they want to manage how they age. It is estimated that around 12 million Americans go in for plastic surgery procedures every year, and believe it or not, many of them flock to Indian shores to get their procedures done. They come to India because the costs here are much less than their Western counterparts. Times have certainly changed from the days when the only surgery hot spots in the world were in cities like Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Dallas.

These days almost every major Indian city and town is dotted with plastic surgery clinics that offer world-class beauty enhancement procedures. According to one estimate over 10,000 Britons travel to India every year for tummy tucks, liposuction, breast manipulation, nose shaping, eyelid surgery, face-lifts, and more. A tummy tuck can cost up to 6,500 pounds in Britain, but only 1,500 pounds in India. It is also easier to get appointments with qualified Indian surgeons. The waiting list for a procedure in Britain can range from 6 months to a year, but in India the same procedure can be done in less than a month.

Desi denizens are not far behind in the beauty game. With the economy growing at a scorching pace, a lot of money is flowing into the pockets of new breed of nouveau riche. These are the people who are always trying to find new ways to splurge. Plastic surgery is just one of them. There are women who yearn for pouting lips like Rekha and there are men who desire dimples like Shahrukh Khan. No problem! If you can afford the services of a proficient plastic surgeon, then enhancing your image by adding a pout or a dimple becomes absurdly simple. Surgery to create 6-pack abs (Pectoral implants), bulging pectorals and buttock enhancements are becoming more and more popular.

The desire to have a body with perfect figure seems to rank fairly high in the priority list of many people of the young generation. To reduce fat in their abdomen, hip and upper thighs, people go in for liposuction, which involves a procedure wherein the body fat is converted to liquid and is sucked out. The procedure is fairly simple as compared to other forms of plastic surgery. You get admitted in the hospital in the morning and get discharged in the evening looking much thinner and sexier. With modern times the social ethos have changed and these days there is lot of societal acceptance to the idea of plastic surgery, and that makes it easier for people to opt for such procedures.

It is James Bond, who is credited with the line, “Diamonds are forever,” but so are breast implants and they are about as coveted. More and more women are going under the knife to surgically attain that perfect eye catching size. According to one report, doctors in US performed about 329,000 breast augmentations in 2006. Similar statistics do not exist for India, but the number of operations are growing at a feverish pace and there might come a time when this country might become the plastic surgery capital of the world. It is not as if only older females are going in for such procedures. Age is clearly no bar. About three years ago, the news made headlines when a 15- year-old British girl decided to get breast implants for her sixteenth birthday. Cosmetic surgery, once the exclusive domain of wealthy older women, is now becoming the trendy new option for any teenager with an adolescent hang-up. The enormous popularity of reality TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, The Swan and MTV’s I Want a Famous Face, has played an important role in fueling the desire of adolescent girls to alter their bodies permanently.

Plastic surgery is also being used to improve sexual performance in the bedroom. Many medical practitioners are finding themselves swamped by requests from women who want to go in for procedures that call for nipping of the inner labia, plumping of the outer labia, tightening of the vagina and even restoration of the hymen, the little membrane that breaks during first intercourse. In certain parts of the world, the hymen is still considered to be the ultimate proof of virginity. There will always be those who want to keep reclaiming their virginal status, hence the popularity of hymen surgery. The procedure of “vaginal tightening,” which entails firming up of the outer ring that leads up to the vagina, is also quite popular.

While women still enjoy the distinction of having the most procedures done in India and abroad, men also are getting on the beauty bandwagon in a big way. Well, why should it come as a surprise that men want to be attractive and youthful too? If anything, both sexes are motivated by a similar desire to look young and attractive. The most common procedures that men go in for are - liposuction, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, facelift and Botox injections. But there will always be those who want to try something that is truly unique. Welcome to the brave new world of penile enhancement! You won’t believe how many people in India and in rest of the world are looking for a way to increase the size of their tool. Clearly, when it comes to sex, size does matter!

As with other forms of plastic surgery, penile enhancement too can be conducted at a much cheaper rate in India. But the surgery is not as trivial as it might seem. The procedure involves the cutting up of the suspensory ligament in the penis and it requires extensive after-care, which includes a regimen of hanging weights off your tool. But there are many who feel that any procedure that promises to make them hung like a porn-star is worth all that trouble and effort. Some men also go in for fat injections to increase the girth of their penis. Testicle implants and scrotum reductions are also not unheard of.

If you want to ogle at a really prefect body, you have to be in Brazil at the time of Samba carnival. It is an unforgettable sight - highenergy samba dancers gliding down the avenue in five-inch high heels, their bare stomach topped by an ample bosom, the like of which you might have never seen before. It is quite common for samba dancers to go under the knife to perfect their body. The famous dancer, Angela Bismarchi, has had 42 different plastic surgeries done. In fact, she is already the Brazilian record holder for the most cosmetic surgeries. Of course, she had a breast implant, how else could she get a bosom of that unbelievable size.

But the place where almost everyone has had a plastic surgery procedure done is certainly Hollywood. Demi Moore is 43 years old, and yet she looks a decade or two younger, all thanks to the extensive procedures that have been done on her magnificent body. Tara Reid had a horrible experience with breast enhancement. She went to the clinic to get B sized breasts, but the surgeon accidentally stuck Cs in her. Unfortunately, the media went crazy and stated that Tara only did that for publicity. Cindy Crawford has already admitted to taking recourse to plastic surgery and so has Lindsay Lohan.

When Bollywood starlet, Rakhi Sawant was quizzed by the inimitable Karan Johar, on his show Koffee with Karan about reports of her getting breast implants, she flirtingly replied, “Jo Bhagwan nahin deta, woh doctor deta hai” (What God doesn’t give, doctor gives it). It takes guts to come clean in Bollywood, but Rakhi has what it takes. The rumor mills have it that Shilpa Shetty had a nose job done, and so has Koena Mitra. With the rise in popularity of Botox and silicone implants, it is getting hard to tell a real beauty from a fake one in Bollywood.

In Rakhi Sawant’s case, she has not only admitted to having a boob job done, she also revealed that she would remove her implants to participate in Nach Baliye 3 contest because implants obstruct her dance movements. But it is not just Bollywood women who are resorting to such tactics for enhancing their appeal. There is a spate of rumors about Salman Khan having resorted to hair implants to take care of his thinning crown. Many aging superstars are great aficionados of face-lift and Botox injections. How else can they have shiny, wrinkle-free cheeks at the age of 70?

Like all things in life, plastic surgery too has its share of pitfalls as well as benefits. The most common procedure is clearly breast implants. Breast implants have helped scores of women around the world to develop self-confidence by augmenting the size of their breasts. But women who go in for such procedures need to understand the risks that the implants can pose and the long-term maintenance that they require. Breast implantation is not necessarily a one-time surgery. In fact, statistics show that roughly one third of women who go in for implant surgery for cosmetic reasons or for reconstruction after breast cancer have a second operation within four to five years.

There is no dearth of people who go in for a nose job, and when they venture into the society with a brand new nose, they find people saying, “Hey, you don’t look like yourself.” Not all criticism is subtle, especially from those who believe surgery has robbed someone of an endearing feature or rendered him or her almost unrecognizable. It is always a good idea to do a full research before going in for an operation, because once the procedure gets done, it is lot more complicated to undo it. So, if you’re considering cosmetic surgery you need to ask yourself what you hope to achieve, because it’s not going to be the one magic solution that makes everything better. It can even change you for the worse, like what happened to John Mullins who was inspired by extreme makeover TV shows to go in for surgery. He was not even aspiring to look like Brad Pitt, all he wanted was a face-lift, a small nose job and a few nips and tucks. But, eighteen operations later Mullins is horribly scarred. He has ended up in a hospital in excruciating pain from vascular and circulatory problems and a pseudomonas infection.

Even ordinary face-lift operation can go bad if the skin gets stretched too tight. In Hollywood it is possible to find old film stars who walk around with a look of constant amazement on their face. That is because their face-lift has been overdone. Sometimes it seems that the surgeon has pulled the skin so tight that they cannot even close their eyes. Extra care needs to be taken in case of teenage girls and boys, who tend to be both obsessed and dissatisfied with their looks, and are too young and shortsighted to understand the implications of surgery.

As far as positive impacts from plastic surgery are concerned, it is highly beneficial for people who are consistently tied to a negative focus on a particular facial feature or body part. An operation may turn out to be the best way to fix low self-esteem, but you need to have realistic expectations. You should not be going in for plastic surgery merely because your girlfriend or boyfriend thinks that you would look much better with a nose or chin job. Going under the knife has to be a deeply personal decision. If you really think that surgery will improve your social standing, your career prospects and self-confidence, then go for it. Otherwise learn to accept yourself the way you are.