piercings and tatoos.

Kanehanahou

But I ain't piercin' what I'm holdin'.. No sirreebob...

PRIYA

You're just too clev for wun person - u shudda been twins!!

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Happiness is for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives. (Anon.)

Sama

While I love (well drawn) tattoos, except for my own pierced ears, body piercing grosses me out, but to each his/her own. Once I saw a guy pass out from a nipple piercing, but hey, if guys could have babies, the human race would die out, right?

A woman I know was pierced "down there" (never saw it!), but she said she had to remove whatever she had because the area kept getting infected. A tattoo artist I know had his scrotum pierced (again, never saw it!), but he said his wife got too grossed out every time she saw it, so he removed the implement. OUCH!

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My India, 2005-2008
sama: Pali/Sanskrit: that state of consciousness which reflects neither attachment nor aversion

Wocca

Then why are you holding it?

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Multi famam, conscientiam pauci verentur
Many fear their reputation, few their conscience

Kanehanahou

So it don't get pierced? Geeez.

ruins_explorer

I'm glad I read this post. i was trying to decide if 4 months was enough time for a bellybutton piercing to heal before my trip - looks like I will be getting it after I get back.

I've already postponed it once because for the time it's healing, you can't go swimming and I didn't want to take the risk of not being able to swim on my last vacation.

iwanttogoback

good decision. my navel took at least six months to heal properly, and it tends to get infected in humid weather - mumbai for example. you really don't want to be worrying about an infection with all the other stuff you'll be dealing with.

paan wallah

tattoes ind india is more like a suicide action

http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/s...puser/502/sl/p

I watched this famous tattoo artist for an hour or so......

he didn t change the needle once !!!!!

he even didn t sterilize the whole appartus !!!!

RiAt

I haven't been on in a few days so I missed this thread, but I thought I'd drop my two cents: I went out with and lived with a tattoo artist for a year. He used to base out of our apartment. Ahhhh I miss falling asleep to the sound of buzzing until 2am. I studied tattooing and apprenticed my boyfriend for a long while. I even filled in the color on most of his tattoos. I myself have 7 total. Anyway relevence-------> I got a tattoo right before Africa and had ideas about getting one while I was there. It's so funny to hear someone else going through these thoughts. My mom said the same stuff. They're supposed to. Why are you asking her anyway? If you're 20 you can make your own decisions (and mistakes). If (you don't have to admit it if you are) you're hitting a financial snag and are trying to hit her up for the mean greens to get it, then forget it. You should wait until you yourself can pay for it. If you want someone to co-sign, ask your friends. Scarcely have I heard young people talk eachother OUT of tattoos. Just so long as you can have it at work tattoos are great. (I will say, having to wear band-aids over my tattoo and have people think I'm horrifically wounded at work hasn't been a peach) As far are getting it IN India, I have to agree with everyone about the health factor. No tattoo is worth a risk like that. Isn't this great to have a whole commitee giving you options to weigh? LOL!
Oh, but the other thing is this: I would research the history and social acceptance of tattoos in India. I had trouble finding stuff when I went to Ghana so I just had to face it when I got there. See, there the only tattoos are related to religions and tribes. The Find-Read-And-Count-RiAt's-Tattoos game gets old fast. There's also some who (with only rumors and movies to base it on) found tattoos symbols of drugs, a bad relationship to your mother, and just general delinquence. I thought I wouldn't care because in the US, the kind of people that profoundly don't like tattoos aren't generally the kind I hang out with. But there I was, with people I really liked, trying to make nice impressions and they were judging me. So that all. I figured, given my apparent boatload of thought on the subject, I should open my mouth. But I'm done now. Good luck!!

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wanna cause a RiAt?

ChrisBurns

Riat,

Very useful information. I am returning to India after two years hiatus, but now with two large tattoos on my forearms (sanskrit and a mural of children flying kites). It will be interesting to see how my friends in Chennai react to this.

On another note, I have read nothing but positive things about the Funkey Monkey tattoo parlor in Mumbai (Bandra), which appears to use safe sterilization and autoclave methods. Since I will be living there for some time, I definitely think I am going to get some more ink after my body fully adjusts to the climate/conditions. I definitely will report back here on my experience and healing process in a few months...

Sama

yes, it will be interesting for me also. I have tattoos on both ankles, top of my right wrist (that includes a Sanskrit OM symbol), lower back (that includes Tibetan OM symbol), and my left shoulder blade. While I will not be showing my shoulders, my ankles will be bared at times. Should I prepare myself for "trouble"?? (and I have dark red, very curly hair, another "unusual" thing!)

Hmmmm........I'll also be in Chennai in 16 days.....

mira4bai4

Both my wife and I are planning to have tats done before we leave for India we think, I lost my designs doing a system rebuild, funny only my IM avatars and the tattoo designs disappeared.

Nose piercings are obviously full on in India and remembering how we used to do it with the needle and cork can't have been so hygenic.

As for cultural tattoos it is more a tribal thing, Apa Tani tribe in Arunachal Prudesh, Gadaba tribe in Koraput Orissa, Dan Bhil tribe in Gujarat, Rahari tribe in Kutch. From the photographic book Hidden Tribes of India by Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone. Shall I say that the tats shown in the book were extremely basic but .......

RiAt

Should I prepare myself for "trouble"??[/quote]

I don't think there'll be trouble but just be prepared to possibly have to explain every inch of your tattoos and what your mom thinks of you having them. One tattoo I have is a little tiny ladybug behind my ear and I swear all the kids in my class thought it was like the "mark" of something.

ruins_explorer

I don't think there'll be trouble but just be prepared to possibly have to explain every inch of your tattoos and what your mom thinks of you having them. One tattoo I have is a little tiny ladybug behind my ear and I swear all the kids in my class thought it was like the "mark" of something.[/quote]


oooh boy. luckily most of my tattoos will be covered by the modest clothing I'll have to be wearing.

I do a lot of explaining even in the US whenever someone sees my tattoos, usually my armband which is the most visible, but sometimes I have to explain (and show the rest of) my back.

Lately I've been thinking of getting a coverup for a tattoo I hate...it didn't come out the way I wanted it and I've pretty much hated it since the day I got it. Sad...that tattoo experience kept me from getting any more, actually. I only have three. The first two are amazing, completely a part of me.

RiAt

Been there done that. My ex-boyfriend tattoo artist's 3rd tattoo on me sucked. It's a poem in brown cursive down my arm. It was meant to look like henna (but half of it is lighter than the first half and a coupla letters are too close together). Which is actually why I bring it up. To all people getting tattoos with designs from India: If you're getting it in brown or red to be light like henna, make SURE the person tattooing you has done that before and ask to see his portfolio to prove it. "Is that a real tattoo? oh *giggle* I couldn't tell it's just so light." Bitter? Me? No...