Ink, Blood and Pain

This is not an article to tell you what a tattoo is. We are sure you already know. I will not tell you that it is cool. That’s for you to find out. I will also not give instruction on "How to get a tattoo…" coz if you want one, you will find a way or a tattoo will find a way to you. "How to take care of one" … I leave to the professionals. I can just take you on a journey, with a few who have 'been there, done that' and who have shared with us a part of their personality that makes them, unique.

Lydia D’silva
CSA @ JP Morgan
Age: 28

There is an enigmatic allure to women with tattoos. For Lydia, tattoos have always been a fascination. To her, it just happens to be an art form that involves blood and needles. So, she walked into a tattoo parlor back in 2004 and chose a design that of a dolphin around the moon. The dolphin is to declare her Piscean status and the moon was symbolic of her dream of going to the moon, as the impossible is something this gutsy gal always aims for. A tattoo is also a sign of bold and she thinks that suits her just fine.

Scale of Pain from 1-10 - 6
Artist: Sameer, Colaba at Dr. Khoyan Clinic
Cost: 3000 bucks for two tattoos. She's got another on her leg (an abstract)
Family and Friends: Very thrilled. Tattoos weren’t a fad when Lydia got hers.
Favorite tattooed Celebrity: Angelina Jolie

Atkin Soares
Quality Analyst @ Zenta
Age: 24

With four cool tattoos, this dude is definitely not scared of needles. And he is definitely going for more. Atkin is a true fan of needle art and it's his way of expressing his personality - a rocker, metal head and an avid basketball fan. With his body as a canvas, it started out as a cool thing to do. His first was a symbol of being a metal head - a skull on the left arm. It's his second tattoo which has more of a story to tell, a dragon that signifies courage and respect, a symbol that best describes his personality. An embellished left arm displays a tribal design and yet a fourth on his right arm. Whew!

Scale of Pain from 1-10 - 6
Artist: First, third and fourth tattoo: Samer Patange, Bandra
Second tattoo: Sammer, Powai
Cost: Around 15k
Family and Friends: His folks are cool. Although, his relatives did think he was involved in a cult like the Anti Christ or some similar weird stuff. But, it wasn’t the tattoo but the skull that got them worried, says Atkin.
Favorite Tattooed Celebrity: Anthony Kiedis (RHCP vocalist), Undertaker (WWE superstar), Allan Iverson (Basketball player)

Vivek Nair
Currently Art Student, Ex-BPOiete
Age: 22

For Vivek, tattoos have always been a way of expressing an event that might have occurred at that particular point of time. He calls his tattoo ‘My inner self’ and it tells its own story. Vivek talks of a time back in 2004 and when he began to realize what he actually was and found out a lot of things about himself. His tattoo is a perfect depiction of an inner self trying to get out of his body. So what if the inner self happens to be a lean mean demon ;)

Scale of Pain from 1-10
Minus 10 (Vivek enjoyed every moment under needles)
Artist: Ask him about the artist and he says he doesn’t want to advertise the person.
Cost: 3500 bucks
Family and Friends: They think the tattoo looks totally cool and is rocking.
Favorite Tattooed Celebrity: Marylyn Manson

Creston Vaz
CSA @ SISA-QUAL Communication/ College Student
Age: 19

He cannot seem to remember a time when he wasn’t attracted to tattoos and piercing. Creston's curiosity about tattoos and the hype (read pain) led him to experiment with the element of edge and pain. He just happens to be passionate about metal music so it seemed natural that he got a tattoo or rather tattoos. It was something about the way it looked that drew Creston to the Bio Hazard design. His other tattoo - 'Resurrection' - is a song from his favorite band 'Lamb of God' which speaks of controlling your feelings and emotions when you are feeling low and that all you need is need faith. Blown away by the description…with a twinkle in his eye, Creston lets you in to another reason - well, Resurrection is also a big enough word to be tattooed across his shoulders.

Scale of Pain from 1-10 -
1st tattoo: 8 'coz he was kind of paranoid and scared.
2nd tattoo: 2 - Although a bigger tattoo (Resurrection), Creston was a veteran by then.
Artist: Vikas Malani from JB Nagar
Bio Hazard design on 11th of Jan 2005.
Resurrection on 14th June 2006.
Cost: 2000 and 9000 bucks respectively
Family: Surprisingly, he has managed to keep that from his parents. I am sure some of us would love to know how! His brother and sister both have tattoos and know about his.
Favorite Tattooed Celebrity: Travis Barker (Blink 182 drummer)