Taking celebs at face value!

Dr Ajay Tripathi, a senior ocuplastic surgeon based in Cambridge University tells how he manages to find time for writing poetry.
In these days of strife and terrorism there are those who choose to shoot from the lip!
"Aao milkar aansun boyen iss banjar-oosar bhoomi mein
koi pushp shanti ka khil jaaye shayad phir apni bhoomi mein
Yeh kisne boi hai nafrat ki bandookon ki fasl ugi
Goli par goli chalti hai Gandhi ki apni bhoomi mein."
This simple piece of poetry, which is seeking answers to contemporary realities like terrorism and social consciousness isn't a sampler from a poet at large! This is the handi-work of Dr Ajay Tripathi, Senior Ocuplastic Surgeon based in Cambridge University, UK who otherwise wields a scalpel when teaching and training junior doctors about the fine art of this sub-specialist branch of cosmetic surgery.In town recently to attend an international conference on Ocuplastic Surgery, Dr Tripathi was also a special invitee at an informal gathering of poets and writers from Lucknow.
Writing informally since 1979, the celebrated surgeon has been seriously penning thoughts to verse since 1983-84. The self-confessed "introvert" medic's interest in poetry was born out of an "emotional turmoil that I went through when I was separated from my family when I moved to UK. Some amount of tension is necessary to churn creative flow, I suppose," he smiles.
And yet how does he find the time to manage both simultaneously? "One always finds the time to do whatever one enjoys. My hospital is about 70 miles from my home in Birmingham. So I go home only on weekends but a thought or a line can occur to you at any time, so I just pen it down right there and then make a fair copy soon as I find time. It's not difficult."
Talking about his specialisation, which is essentially surgery related to the upper portion of the face, Tripathi candidly admits that celebs do "prefer to maintain their youngish looks even though the costs are exorbitant. Cosmetic surgery is expensive per se but Ocuplasty is more so. The American Ocuplastic surgeons are very private about their high-profile celebrity clients — mainly Hollywood's stars, who go in for eyebrows lifts, forehead lift, wrinkle removal, nose lift, removal of excess skin from the upper eye lid or removing bags from under the eyes."
Despite the fact that internationally renowned celebrities like Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone and Michael Jackson (who takes the bakery with the number of surgeries that he has had performed) insurance companies dissuade clients from lining up, informs Dr Tripathi. "Ours are primarily life-saving surgeries for patients suffering from cancers or other serious ailments so those keen on only cosmetic procedures are essentially on our waiting lists," he clears. And never mind if that one means keeping the celebs at bay!
manjula.negi@timesgroup.com