Tattoo Mania

“The world is divided into two kinds of people:  those who have tattoos, and those who are afraid of people with tattoos.  ~Author Unknown”

Symbol of love in Japanese Language

“Ink to paper is thoughtful
Ink to flesh, hard-core.
If Shakespeare were a tattooist
we’d appreciate body art more.”
~Carrie Latet

Definition of a tattoo: The act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments.

Bollywood Tattoo Mania: Saif, Kareena,  Deepika & Ranbir…

I have always been fascinated with tattoos, all kinds of tattoos. Every time I see someone sporting a tattoo, I tell myself: come tomorrow, I am going to a tattoo parlor and getting one on my wrist! It started with a friend getting her friend’s name tattooed on her shoulder. I loved the idea of showing someone how much you love them by imprinting their name on your body. Tattoo is a public display of your love for someone or something, nothing private about it!

I happened to watch a teaser of ‘India’s most desirable’, and heard Simi Garewal ask Deepika Padukone about her ‘RK ‘tattoo. Deepika had been so much in love that she had gotten Ranbir Kapoor’s initials tattooed on the back of her neck. But after the break-up, she still hadn’t gotten it removed. When asked why she hadn’t removed it, she said, “It brings back fond memories”. Aww…how sweet!! But what about her current heart-throb? Doesn’t he mind someone else’s name on her body, permanently tattooed for the entire world to see? Guess not.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, come to mind, when we talk about tattoos. Saif has ‘Kareena’ written on his forearm, in Devnagiri script. But God forbid, if they ever break up, what happens to the tattoo then? Does he look for a girl with the same name or does he look for a tattoo artist who will work miracles and totally transform the artwork, like Vimal to Vendetta?

Why can’t people in love be far-sighted and decide beforehand that there will be no bodily piercings involved in their relationship? Even if they do decide to have their friend’s/lover’s name tattooed on their bodies, why don’t they stick to the initials? It’s much easier to edit an alphabet than a name.

I know of a girl who was going around with a guy, whose name began with a V, let’s call him Vimal. After they broke up, she got a line tattooed across the V, and changed into the popular symbol from the movie “V for Vendetta”. Atta girl, Innovative! Don’t you think so? Not to mention, just like she had once shown affection and love through her tattoo, she was now just displaying her ‘modified’ feelings. (That Vimal better be careful.)

Bollywood  movies in India have had a long association with tattoos and their aftermath. Siblings, especially twins, used to get their names tattooed on their forearms, and then invariably separate due to some natural calamity or in a crowded place like a fair. And then, at the end of the movie, they were always reunited because of those very tattoos.

Amitabh Bachchan immortalized tattoos with his movie ‘Deewar’, where the moral police tattooed “Mera baap chor hai” on his forearm. Another movie which centered on a tattoo was ’Hanste Zakhm’; In this movie, the lead actress Priya Rajvansh gets her best friend’s name tattooed on her arm, and her friend gets Priya’s name tattooed on hers. But the tragedy is that when kidnappers come to abduct her friend, they pick Priya up because of her tattoo. Her life is ruined as she is pushed into prostitution by her kidnappers and she has an untimely and sad end.

Bollywood Tattoos:  A Love Story

Bollywood has a number of celebrities sporting a variety of tattoos: Hrithik and wife Suzanne have identical star-shaped tattoos on their wrists. Akshay Kumar has a tattoo with his son Araav’s name on his back. Arjun Rampal has a modern-art inspired tattoo on his arm. Actor Imran Khan has a sun-shaped tattoo down his nape. Superstar Shah Rukh Khan had a temporary tattoo down his left arm for promotion of his Kolkata Knight Riders team last year. Sanjay Dutt has gone ahead of everyone, as he now sports not one, but multiple tattoos on his forearm. Kareena’s name, splashed in Hindi across Saif’s arm, is hauntingly similar to David Beckham’s ‘Victoria’ in Hindi tattoo.

Tattoo Power

Having said all this, I still want to get a tattoo. In fact, even Kriti is toying with the idea of getting one, but we haven’t decided where we want them yet. I think wrists are a good option, maybe even ankles. It’s too painful to even think of getting a tattoo on any other part of the body. However, we’re sort of certain of one thing: instead of tattooing names of our soul mates or even Japanese love symbols, we will go in for meaningful initials like CF (curryflavour), ISD (groupisd), LWL (lassiwithlavina) and SP (socialpotpourri), for these were the people who truly believed in us, and helped us during our struggling days.

Lucks aka Sulekha

“When the designs are chosen with care, tattoos have a power and magic all their own.  They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul.  ~Michelle Delio”

“Quirky is sexy, like scars or chipped teeth.  I also like tattoos – they’re rebellious.”  ~Jennifer Aniston

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What do you all think? Do share your thoughts with us.