Since college, I have wanted to do a few things in life. Getting a tattoo, tasting alcohol were on top of the list. Most importantly, it was the tattoo.
No peer pressure was involved for the thought to seep into my head. For that matter, coming from a small town, people wouldn't even think of getting a tattoo. But it was always at the back of my head, may be in my sub conscious if I can say that. And after college I moved to Bangalore, yes where I found myself in more ways than one. I started earning, being conscious on spending each penny.
Very few of my friends here had a tattoo. But they did. I was pondering since months on the design. If I am getting something etched in me, it has to be meaningful and something I love. And finally one day my ex-colleague got a huge tattoo done on her back. A huge Shiva. And that's when I got serious on the design. I wanted symbols of hope and faith, which didn't exist except in Chinese! No way was I going to get something done in a language that I cannot even understand, forget reading. A friend suggested a phoenix because it stands for hope. I did my own bit of research and fell in love with the phoenix. It was going to be a phoenix.
I got in touch with my artist friend and told him the whole story. He sent me the designs and after a few mails of editing, re-editing the design, I finalised one with the help of my friends. It had to be that design on my ankle. Oh yes! Choosing the place for the tattoo was another task. I didn't want it on my arm or shoulder - those were done to death places. And again it had to be a place where it would be visible to *me*. A definite confession would be that I also chose the place because of the tight skin, so that the process is less painful and when I grow old, the skin stays the same way :-D (my own logic)
As I put down my papers to join another company, I decided it had to be this time to get the tattoo done. A new chapter was to begin, had to commence with a bang! I found nobody who could accompany me that day to the tattoo studio, and I had got the appointment after much request. So I decided to head alone, only to find that a friend who stayed near the studio was excited to see the whole process. Sometimes I wonder how I got the strength to go ahead and take such a huge step.... Am so glad I did find the strength that day.
After a 20 minute session I was stamped with the phoenix just above my ankle. Just the way I wanted it. It had come out in such a perfect manner, it was a beauty.
I walked out so proud of myself that day. A dream, though small, fulfilled. I couldn't have been more happier. Waking up to this every day was like a magic potion. It just makes my day, even after 5 months. Sometimes I cannot believe I got it done. Every day I fall in love with it over and over again. Something that I'll take to my grave. Something I will never regret, though elders in the family still might not like it. After all, I got it done for *me* and not for the world to see.
I know it's a small incident, may be a negligible one for others, but not for me. It reminds me every day that it is all about taking that one step for anything. It reminds me that I am headstrong, I am strong, I am me, I am hope. It's one of the best things I could've ever done.
And this one was a latest find which I totally agreed to:
No peer pressure was involved for the thought to seep into my head. For that matter, coming from a small town, people wouldn't even think of getting a tattoo. But it was always at the back of my head, may be in my sub conscious if I can say that. And after college I moved to Bangalore, yes where I found myself in more ways than one. I started earning, being conscious on spending each penny.
Very few of my friends here had a tattoo. But they did. I was pondering since months on the design. If I am getting something etched in me, it has to be meaningful and something I love. And finally one day my ex-colleague got a huge tattoo done on her back. A huge Shiva. And that's when I got serious on the design. I wanted symbols of hope and faith, which didn't exist except in Chinese! No way was I going to get something done in a language that I cannot even understand, forget reading. A friend suggested a phoenix because it stands for hope. I did my own bit of research and fell in love with the phoenix. It was going to be a phoenix.
I got in touch with my artist friend and told him the whole story. He sent me the designs and after a few mails of editing, re-editing the design, I finalised one with the help of my friends. It had to be that design on my ankle. Oh yes! Choosing the place for the tattoo was another task. I didn't want it on my arm or shoulder - those were done to death places. And again it had to be a place where it would be visible to *me*. A definite confession would be that I also chose the place because of the tight skin, so that the process is less painful and when I grow old, the skin stays the same way :-D (my own logic)
As I put down my papers to join another company, I decided it had to be this time to get the tattoo done. A new chapter was to begin, had to commence with a bang! I found nobody who could accompany me that day to the tattoo studio, and I had got the appointment after much request. So I decided to head alone, only to find that a friend who stayed near the studio was excited to see the whole process. Sometimes I wonder how I got the strength to go ahead and take such a huge step.... Am so glad I did find the strength that day.
After a 20 minute session I was stamped with the phoenix just above my ankle. Just the way I wanted it. It had come out in such a perfect manner, it was a beauty.
I walked out so proud of myself that day. A dream, though small, fulfilled. I couldn't have been more happier. Waking up to this every day was like a magic potion. It just makes my day, even after 5 months. Sometimes I cannot believe I got it done. Every day I fall in love with it over and over again. Something that I'll take to my grave. Something I will never regret, though elders in the family still might not like it. After all, I got it done for *me* and not for the world to see.
I know it's a small incident, may be a negligible one for others, but not for me. It reminds me every day that it is all about taking that one step for anything. It reminds me that I am headstrong, I am strong, I am me, I am hope. It's one of the best things I could've ever done.
And this one was a latest find which I totally agreed to:
2 comments:
Nicely put...
Thanks Sandy! Glad you liked it :-)
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