Looking young is the new mantra

- 38-year-old Sharada*, an HR person, spends 80% of her salary on beauty treatments - 41-year-old Ramya*, a homemaker, consciously avoids meeting any of her school and college mates who she feels do not look as old as she herself does. - 40-year-old Rahul* changes his set of friends every few years, only to continue hanging out with 20 year olds because he feels he belongs only to that age group. - 43-year-old David*, a real estate professional, never misses his four-hour workout routine. He also follows a strict diet and looks only around 30 years old.- 52-year old Radhika* underwent a rather painful liposuction procedure for the second time in seven years, even though she is a regular at the gym and follows a healthy diet. If Rapunzel was a reality, she would have a whole lot of Bangaloreans vying to play her step mom. The above instances are just a few examples of what Bangaloreans are actually going through these days. The current generation thrives on looking young and wants to look young forever — no matter what it takes.Says stand-up comedienne and trainer Rubi Chakravarti, “I just celebrated by 54th birthday, but half my classmates from college still don’t seem to have celebrated even their 50th yet! There was a time when people used to wear their age on their sleeves but now that’s not the case. There is a lot of pressure to look gorgeous and airbrushed at all time, and I feel it has a lot to do with their self esteem. They only work towards stagnating age.” The penchant to stay young leads people to a lot of places — the gym, salons, cosmetic surgeons and more. However, there are times when it takes a toll — not only on one’s mental health but also on the people around them. Advertising professional Nisha Sampath cites an example, “A friend of mine has been obsessed with the way she looks right from the time we were in college. Back then, she did small things like constantly trying out different products to keep her skin looking good. But as we got older, she got more and more anxious about her looks. She started working out harder in the gym and even got botox done. She has a very understanding husband and two children, but her obsession with looking young has started taking a toll on her family. She spends all her time and money in spas and beauty salons. Things are so bad now that she doesn’t go out during the day and only goes to restaurants that are dimly lit.”Forty-year-old socialite Babita Sharma, who has no qualms about revealing her age, got a lot of questioning glances when she was seen sporting a white medical tape across her cheek for a couple of days last year. She later revealed that it was due to a laser treatment that she had got done to remove pigmentation on her skin. “I haven’t required any surgery to hide my age yet and I don’t think that I will ever do it,” says Babita, who adds, “A lot of people I know don’t even want to be a part of conversations related to age. That stems out of insecurity and a lack of confidence. Also, since the popular belief is that only young people should be out partying and socializing, a lot of them want to remain looking young as long as they possibly can.” Psychiatrist Vikram Prabhu explains, “It is true that more and more people want to look and stay young in terms of appearance and behaviour. Though they are mature in their decision making, when it comes to looks and activities, they want to stay youthful. Such people want their energy levels to constantly be high and want to be able travel a lot. Their world is centered around their looks and how they behave. Forget getting old, they don’t even want to enter middle age because youth is associated with being a go-getter. People are in denial. People have difficulty looking at themselves in the mirror and rely on all kinds of treatments just to be able to see what they once used to in the mirror.”(*Names changed to disassociate real people from their actual physical age)