it's no more a nubile teenage model's fad. the fever has spread far and wide.neither sex nor age is any bar.the coolest thing to do nowadays is to get yourself imprinted for life.that got reinforced in the 10th annual new york city tattoo convention held in june this year.people from various walks of life-lawyers,architects,doctors,engineers were seen queuing up to get tattooed.and they were willing to pay a heavy price to the tattoowala.it is reported that there were about 90 tattoo parlours from all over the world participating in making a killing out of this latest trend.the desire to buy a very personal art work for an amount which would be equivalent to buying an expensive painting from say christie's.
tattoos date back to about ten milleniums though it is only in the last fifteen years or so that a large number of people have been going in for tattoos in india.in addition to the usual bikers and musicians, the craze has spread to the yuppies and to the old.a flight attendant,a banker,an artist who lost his jhola,a teetotaller.all from mumbai recently showed off what they have in common.gone are the days when tattoos were associated with only hippies and junkies.
tattoo parlours have mushroomed in mumbai with the three most popular tattoowals being ben irani at tardeo,sameer patange at bandra and al alva at bandra too.starting from rs 2000 the cost could go up to the sky depending upon the complexity of the work.you pay for the pain.more the pain the more you pay!there are many amateur artists and fakes too. so if you have that gungho attitude and wanrt to get yourself tattooed,beware. study the scenario carefully before you embark on your mission.
mandira bedi and esha deol ran into controversies for tattooing themselves with the 'ek onkar' sikh religious tattoo and the 'gayathri mantra' respectively.five hollywood females have 43 tattoos on their body. and that includes angelina joile who has the maximum.like the rush of a mind-altering drug,the sense of being able to have an artwork on one's flesh is just propelling this craze.it is not just one tattoo on the body.it is in dozens.sunil dutt and shobha dey have also gone in for their own distinct tattoos.sanjay was seen with a lion's mug with the word 'simba rules'on his rightwrist.and shoba dey had a oriental tattoo in a pair.on her right shoulder.the upper one symbolises motherhood.the lower one represents the female principle in the cosmos,says shobha dey.
it is not irreversible.once you are tattooed you remain always tattooed is true no more.modern technology makes it possible to erase your tattoo.that will,i am sure, spawn another industry.
i will let you into a small secret.many years ago,i got myself tattoeed.don't get scandalised and don't think i was justifying what i did with what i have said so far.i was tattooed by my guru. i have the discus and conchshell,the insignia of lord vishnu tattooed on my right and left shoulders respectively.it was a simple process and i also gave a humble gurudakshina.i am proud of my tattoos.they are visible though not coloured.they constantly remind me to tread on the right path.what more could i ask for?
2 comments:
Wow, GS, what synchronicity! My next post is going to be about this Japanese girl (daughter of a member of the Yakuza gang) and how her tattoos literally saved her life because the significance of what she tattooed became her strength. I was going to talk about tattoos and how they mean different things to different people and are not always just decorative symbols.
Thank you so much for revealing what yours mean to you. I think, tattoos, because they are so permenent, need to be something that will be of great significance to a person for the rest of his/her life.
People, in particular women, should understand that as one ages, the skin sags and wrinkles so if one is getting tattooed simply as an adornment one should think again, also, a tattoo is best placed in an area that can be covered up if one so desires.
Thank you for the wonderful post!
hello lr
great minds think alike,don't they? and in sync! "need to be something that will be of great significance".you hit the nail on the head.that is the bottom line.the right tattoo at the right place.it shouldn't be a case of tattoo remorse.like a young woman and her fiance had each other's names tattooed across their inner wrists.but now she doesn't want to look at her wrists which bitterly remind her of their failed relationship.
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