piercings and tatoos.

davey

I reckon one that will suit you would be one of those piercings that goes through one lip to the other one with a small piece on it that allows you to open and close it at times, I bet your mother would love to pay for it even. I think you can get them in Goa

Sadhu

My simple advice: The lip piercing may or may not get infected, which goes for pretty much every piece of broken skin in a new environment. As for a tattoo, I would say only ever get one from a tatoo artist you are familiar with. I knew someone who died of AIDS from a tattoo she got in LA. I have also known people to get tattoed in Thailand from monks with no problem. I also have known enough tatoo artists to know that getting a good tattoo is infinitely more important than where you get it. A crap drawing on your back is hardly a good souvenir!

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byronic

I was wondering, does India (or certain territories) have a history of tattoo art? I mean in the sense that Japan or Thailand have a long history of traditional tattoo and tattoo design?
I would think that some specific tribal groups would have their traditional tattoos, but I don't see a tribal tattooist opening a shop in downtown Delhi or Bangalore? I would think getting a tattoo done by a tribal group would be not only a great honor but also a true rarity for an outsider.

Are tattoos considered taboo in certain areas? I know in Japan when one goes around flashing their tattoos you are still considered a gangster or outlaw by 99 percent of the population.

Recently I have been seeing Bollywood actors and dancers sporting 90s style tribal tattoos in movies. So I think that tattoos may be getting hip in Mumbai? Sanjay Dutt recently got a very large arm tattoo (in Asian Japanese style) to go along with the other tattoos he has. The tattoos I have seen on Indians have all been Western or Japanese designs?

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Karaokemonk

The thing that I would be worried most about in piercings or tatoos in India is hepatitis c. There are currently several times as many people with this disease as HIV. Most of them don't know they have it. It's risky enough in western countries. You may not find out you have it for many years unless you get tested and it isn't a standard test.

Kanehanahou

Jenn, just be careful - and think a little farther ahead.

*IF* (just an if, but let me finish) your lip piercing gets infected, the rest of your trip will at least partially suck.

Transfer that if to a bad tattoo parlor and you're doing even worse.

And on this subject Yeah, I keep thinking about gettin' the Starbucks logo on my butt every time I go there (Hey, Barista, ya listenin'?).

Nick-H

Ouch For two days this week I could not eat even mildly spiced food due to a very minor mouth sore. An infected lip would be too much to bear.

Dare I say it? Having to eat through a straw sucks

I can't believe I just said said that!

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tadka

byronic--good post! I'm curious, too.

Are there any traditional tattoo practices?

And--it's been years since I've been to India, so this may seem dumb-- but are there now tattoo studios? With autoclaves? And artists and tables and design options and all that stuff?

I've noticed the tattoos on the bollywood stars as well. Where are they coming from?

Maz 1979

Hi Machadinha,
When i had my tongue pierced it swelled up for 2 days and then it was fine. I put a smaller bar in after 5 days and it has been fine for 10 years now.

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Ikuru

They do henna tattoos on the brides getting married.. They are temporary and organic and beautyfull...

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xealot

... luckily the insides of our mouths are very good at killing the nasty things that cause infection, hence tongue peircings are amongst the safest and fastest healing... I was also pleasantly surprised at how painless and easy to look the after it was when i got it done. I don't know if that really applies to lips as well though

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machadinha

Maybe I got the lip and the tongue mixed up, I'm positive about the belly ones taking a long time to (really) heal though. I too thought that the mouth is generally quick to heal but I've heard jamming a pin through there is something else. Whatever. I'm sure you could get a professional and clean job done in India, but aside from keeping it clean whilst being on the move (a tattoo is basically an open wound that needs to be treated as such, I can't remember for how long sorry, I thought an initial week and then some) it's good advice to have it done by a reputed artist whose work you know and who you're comfortable with, difficult when moving about in a strange land. Getting just any impromptu design as a souvenir for your first tattoo might increase the regret-afterwards factor.

As for tattooing in India many fishermen folks and general lower-caste people I've seen seem to have tattoos so it would seem to be quite common, I don't know what the culture of it is. I don't think as a tourist you'd get involved very easily, nor do I assume they have them done in high-tech studios, more like the needle and chinese ink kind of affair probably. (In fact a befriended artist in Amsterdam is getting famous for being one of the few to have imported the traditional Japanese method involving a wooden stick and a hammer, but I'm digressing Check him out at http://www.admiraaltattoo.com/ , you could do worse than getting serviced by him if you're ever in the area, book well ahead as he's popular. <end spam mode> )

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jennifericous

ya the piercer man, said that the tongue was the second cleanest part of the body, second only to the urethra. i found that pretty interesting. weird thing happened when bf got his tongue pierced, he said it didnt hurt much. then about 15 mins later, he fainted on the street. bit weird.
i heard of that tatoo artist in amsterdam. theres another really nice parlour down near the waterlooplein market if anyones ever been there. i saw them do some really cool work, they have a python in a case there too. i nearly got one, but didnt have enough money. story of my life!
ya its probably better off to not get a tatoo or piercing before going to a different environment. pity though they're so nice.
thanks again davey for another insightful and charming post. your a nice guy.
Jenn xx

machadinha

nb You asked the guy about India and he goes off about getting your genitals pierced? ... Find a different artist maybe.

Good luck with it Jenn.

jennifericous

lol i know! it was like, did anyone mention genitals? i think he was just trying to show off that he could do it or something. theres only one tatoo and piercing parlour where i live. prob will get it done in dublin when i get home from india. or when i go to do a postgrad in london next year. he nearly had me sold on that genital piercing. has anyone got that done? it kinda fascinates me.

Kanehanahou

We can tell.