Are you a tattoo-taler?
Jasmine Singh
The head-turner Angelina Jolie made everyone stop and stare at her back, as the media captured pictures of a tattoo, which was later deciphered to be ‘some’ inscription written in Pali.
The meaning of the tattoo was, ‘May your enemies run far away from you. If you acquire riches, may they remain yours, always! Your beauty will be that of an Apsara. Wherever you may go, many will attend, serve and protect you, surrounding you on all sides’.
Yet another heartthrob David Beckham decided to show his love for his wife Victoria, by getting her name tattooed in Hindi. Singer Katty Perry was seen flaunting a tattoo inked in Hindi. And now, we hear that recently, a group of people harassed an Australian couple at a restaurant in Bengaluru, even threatening to skin the young man’s leg, for sporting the tattoo of Hindu goddess Yellamma on his shin.
Now, has this news got you busy checking the tattoo that you are sporting, just in case you are not offending any religious sentiment? Tattoo that came as a barbaric practice, often referred in literature as depicting bandits or folk heroes, have now acquired different connotations- it is used to profess love, to honour the dead, and sometimes for no reason at all (maybe like the Australian guy Mathew Gordon)!
Tattoos with a religious tone are still quite a trend, but in the process do we trespass certain ‘don’ts’. Or, can creativity be inked on whatever way an individual wants?
Finding a meaning
Not so long ago, actress Esha Deol was criticised for getting Gayatri mantra and a beautiful Om inked on her right shoulder! Did she know what she was getting and what it stood for?
Tattoo artist Akshit Khanna from Chandigarh holds a strong opinion on this. “I always tell my clients, first make sure you know what you are getting inked on your body, what is the meaning of the lines, words, images. I ask them to research well, before getting it on themselves. Since a tattoo is going to be a part of them, they might as well know it in and out.”
Akshit would have inscribed nearly 200 Om in his two-year career. He has tattooed mantras, Sanskrit shlokas, Hebrew sayings, lines from Gita and from Guru Granth Sahib. “Not all clients understand the meaning of what they are getting on their body. Some do know the story in and out as well. All said and done, religious tattoos give the one who sports tattoo a sense of being watched over.”
Know it well
For many, religious tattoos are a way to express their faith and belief! In fact, it is indicative of ones philosophy in a particular stream of thought. “This is why I don’t encourage people to go in for religious tattoos,” shares yet another tattoo artist from Zirakpur Jazz(Z). The young artist, who shifted from Delhi a year back, suggests, “I ask my client who asks for any kind of religious tattoo whether they understand what they are getting done. I don’t mind telling them, religion and spirituality are different, carry it only if you believe in it. Don’t do it as a part of any trend.”
When it comes to the favourite choices for a religious tattoo in the North, undoubtedly it is the picture of Shiva, the sacred word Om or Ek Omkar that find favour with youngsters. But, Chakshu, a tattoo artist from Ludhiana, says that youngsters are moving to tattoos that have an international appeal. Chakshu adds. “You don’t need to carry religion on your body and you have it in your heart…irrespective of the trend.”
jasmine@tribunemail.com
