South Asian boys generally have thick eyebrows and long eyelashes

While walking through the busy streets of Mymensingh, a provincial city in Bangladesh, I noticed a young boy standing in front of a shop. He must have been about seven or eight years old. His small frame, large eyes, and unusually well-shaped eyebrows left a vivid impression. When I pointed my camera toward him, he glanced at me for a moment, then shyly lowered his gaze. It seemed the sudden appearance of a foreigner had caught him off guard.

Mymensingh is one of the more tranquil towns in Bangladesh. Old shops line the central streets, and rickshaws weave constantly through the traffic. The honking of horns never ceases, yet somehow it doesn’t provoke irritation—the very air of the town feels unhurried. In the display case of the shop where the boy stood were old mobile phones and wristwatches. It was hard to tell whether it was a repair shop or a secondhand dealer—perhaps both. In any case, it seemed to be a place that traded in the lingering scent of time.

There was a thoughtful shadow in the boy’s face. For someone so young, his expression carried a trace of maturity, and now and then his lips moved slightly—as if he wanted to say something but chose to swallow the words instead. Boys in South Asia tend to have thick eyebrows and long eyelashes. It’s partly genetic, of course, but locals also believe that long lashes keep away evil spirits. Remembering that old superstition, I pressed the shutter.