Different phases marked by similar ink
Nothing matters in the long run. However, it’s the accumulation of little moments that provide meaning to our existence. Tiny droplets of various factors and events coming together to create an umbrella of memories. We are constantly evolving although we act like we haven’t changed since 1994. When you leaf through an old diary, you not only smell the fragrance of who you were back then but also transport yourselves to a strange place where you don’t fit in anymore. The irony of feeling like a misfit back in the days!
Well, that’s life.
At least that’s how life seems like at times.
We are something and then we become something else and then we seek something new. This endless process wears us out eventually but it’s fun too. What else would we do with our allotted time? As we grow, we turn more and more attached to a few elements that resonate with who we think we are at that point of time. Of course, very few of us stay faithful to our past ideas of identities. As time passes and as years pile up, we transition from one phase to another. That was my punk phase and this is my grunge phase and so on. That was my Scruton phase and this is my Chomsky phase and so on. Some of us end up documenting these phases by carving out (in?) symbols, texts and other designs onto (into?) our skin. People call it body art or tattoos. I call them ‘painful attempt at permanence’.
If you read human history, inking oneself is one of the oldest remnants of culture. Along with dancing and murder, it has been an anthropological fixture. Whether we are talking about Sumeria or Polynesia or the Phoenicians or those who settled in Harappa, all of them appreciated body art and indulged in artificial pigmentation to commemorate events in their respective lives. Needless to add, we’ve come a long way from the primitive methods of injecting ink into subcutaneous layers. Today, we have tattoo guns that can boost a needle to move in and out of your skin 50 times within a second. Speak of precision in the 21st century.
I know all this because I was into tattoos a couple of years ago. The craze started in 2011 and ended in 2014. Within a span of four years, I accumulated 33 tattoos. All done in Bombay. My 34th tattoo will be ‘aatmanirbhar’ in Chinese script. Just kidding. Those who read my stuff and end up seeing me (on Instagram and Twitter, obviously) often ask me how many tattoos do I have and/or what do they mean. This particular query tires me as it’s an exhaustive conversation and I lack the patience to go through each and every inch of marked real estate. Feels like privacy violations anyway. So, to solve this issue once and for all, you are reading this blog post. I’ll be walking you through each of the tattoos and the little stories behind them — without specifying their exact location.
Quotation marks: Long before semicolon tattoos became a rage, I decided to mark my entry into journalism with open-and-close quotation marks. Anything you told me was on record. My first ever tattoo. Quite a splendid start, won’t you agree?
Sundira: Wanted to do something with my parents’ names but couldn’t figure out the script so portmanteaued their individual names (Sunder & Indira) in Roman script.
Initials: People and places that influenced me the most and more importantly, made a difference to me; their initials were laid out one after another.
Buddha: How can you not get something Buddhist? I was always fascinated by Buddha’s serene face right after he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. So got his mugshot with the words NIRVANA printed over it. Had nothing to do with Kurt Cobain.
Natya Shastra quote: Was enamoured by a Sanskrit quote from Natya Shastra — the most revered compendium on performing arts — and the line captured the essence of everything. It suggests that thoughts give rise to words, words to actions and actions to moksha.
Faceless Chaplin: There is hardly any actor in history who can be recognized without his face as easily as Charlie Chaplin. A hat and a moustache. That’s all.
Balinese Om: The original idea was to get Balinese Om but I did a bit of artistry here — there is a jobless designer in all of us — and got a blackheart inserted in the middle making the tattoo look like Gothic Ganesha.
Sound of silence: How do you dedicate a tattoo to silence? Well, you show a musical chart with all the notations fallen down with nothing on the strings. Saw this on Pinterest once and was mindblown.
Sai: Not many people appear to be aware of this etymology but Sai is a Farsi name celebrating god. My brother is named the same, after Shirdi Saibaba, and I thought of getting his name in Devanagari script.
Shiv: A tribute to my deceased brother in tribal font.
Roman numericals: Seinfeld might be a show about nothing but his idea was originally the brainchild of Aryabhatta. That’s how zero was born in India. Before that happened, the West’s mathematics was extremely limited. How do you denote zero in Roman numericals anyway? Exactly. So I got some important dates tattooed (year of birth, Club 27, the day I met my future wife, etc.) in Roman script. Nothing? Something.
Sadhu: A monk with his eyes tight shut and his perfect facial hair and dreadlocked mane jutting out. A friend said I should try this look. I chose to get it inked instead.
Kannada idiom: My ajji (maternal grandma) was known for throwing superdeep quotes every now and then. One of them being a Kannada saying — “nothing can replace salt in your food and mother in your life” — is my favourite. So got it done in Kannada script itself. According to my polyglot missus, there is a typo in there. Ouch.
Pluto: When they unceremoniously stripped Pluto of its planetary status in 2006, it was given a lame number. To this day, Pluto is sad about it and I have a prison-like ID on me.
9 virtues: How can you not get something in Kanji script? I was very interested in Japanese culture back then (still am, actually) and was literally enamoured by something I read about 9 qualities that every human should have (empathy, patience, courage, etc.). So thought, why not?
Chinese spirit: Similarly, I read something zen about resilience so got “seven down, eighth up” (if you are down seven times, you will be up at your eighth attempt) in Chinese script.
Quranic quote: There was a gorgeous line I came across in Al-Kufriyan section of the holy book which basically said — “to your religion to you and mine to me” — and I thought a kafir like me must have this Arabic beaut needled in.
Courtship doodle: I’ve known my SO since 2013 but our courtship was on mute for about 1.5 years. Meaning we didn’t hear each other’s voice until we finally met in Mangalore. Only text. During that phase, I used to sketch funny doodles for her. Got one of my faves imprinted on my skin.
Shakti: If you are going to be narcissistic, go big or go home. Hence got my name tattooed in Nastaliq script. Not because I love myself too much but because I saw how violently badass it looked. Quite contrary to my nature.
Tibet: During my younger days, I was very fond of Tibetan culture and history. This affair was triggered by Seven Years in Tibet (1997) and I ended up getting the word on me. Interestingly, to this day, Brad Pitt is banned from China for starring in that movie. I reckon they won’t allow me a visa if they ever come to know about this inky tribute.
Bull: Although I am not into astrology at all, I like the fact that a Tauran bull is my sun sign. So got it done with “know thyself” written on top of it in Greek script.
Ekla Chalo Re: How can you call yourself a Tagore bhakt and not have these original three magical words somewhere on your body? Preferably in Bengali script.
Best quote: My all-time favourite dialogue isn’t from a movie or a book. It’s from a real-life conversation where somebody said “do nothing, just be” — too cool to be ignored.
Sacred: I was into sacred games long before Gaitonde entered the scene. There is a Latin phrase which goes “nihilo este sanctum?” asking whether anything is sacred anymore. The answer is always “maybe”.
Che: Just like Mona Lisa is the world’s most popular fictional face, Che has the world’s most popular non-fictional face. His raggedy mugshot is everywhere, including my body. This was before I learned about his bloodthirsty megalomania. However, I was a capitalist communist then. I am a capitalist communist now.
Jungle Book: Batman might be your all-time fave superhero but can he talk to animals? No, right? Which is why Mowgli wins. I got him tattooed dancing with Bhaloo. No, Bagheera isn’t visible but am sure he’s keeping an eye on them from a distance.
Pugs: My childhood was coloured by cats whereas my adulthood consistently had dogs around me. So, got guess-whose pug marks.
Calvin: There aren’t many who aren’t aware of Calvin&Hobbes but if you aren’t, do read about their creator (Bill Watterson) and how he quit in 1995 at the height of his career. Yes, you read that right. He hasn’t sketched one strip of C&H since but it still continues to be the most syndicated cartoon in the world. Says a lot about the quality of his work. I got Calvin tattooed while he’s taking a piss. Yes, you read that right (again). Hobbes isn’t around because he is inside Calvin’s head.
Hakuna Matata: You must be familiar with the joyous sound of Hakuna Matata from The Lion King (1994). It’s a Swahili motif for “everything’s gonna be alright”. Instead of the words, I got the African symbol done.
Haka: Even if you aren’t a rugby fan, you must have enjoyed the goosebumpy Haka rituals associated with All Blacks (New Zealand team). As a memory to their spirit, I got an intense Maori design. The detailing was so intricate that I must admit it was the most painful one of all.
Holocaust: A lot of us already know that 6 million Jews were killed within 6 years during WW2. Moreover, we also know that there were ruthless concentration camps set up across Europe to drain this persecuted community of dignity and, eventually, the will to live. Yet, many survived the ordeal. I wanted to get something in this context and went ahead with “arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free) flashed on the entrance of several Nazi camps.
Feather: While watching Black Swan (2010), I was stuck by a beautiful imagery of a feather disintegrating into birds. After a little of tweaks, I got the required design. It came out really well.
Violin: I recently started learning ukulele but violin shall always remain my dearest instrument.
Dragon: Well, it’s not a dragon but when people ask me about it, I always mention dragon. The reason being, nobody asks any questions about dragons. In reality, it’s a seahorse. I like seahorse because of many reasons. One, they swim around in the seas around the point where light stop penetrating any further. Two, they are a symbol of fidelity and stay faithful to their partners. Third, a male seahorse is the SI unit of feminism as he is fully capable of giving birth.
STFU: I was watching a Danish movie starring Mads Mikkelsen and his character screamed “shut the fuck up” during a point of utter frustration. I thought it sounded very cool.
YNWA: While interviewing Asif Kapadia (who directed epic documentaries like Senna (2010) and Amy (2015), amongst other projects), he was thrilled to learn that I was a fellow Liverpool fan. We arrived at this wonderful coincidence thanks to my YNWA (you’ll never walk alone) tattoo.
As you must have noticed, I initially mentioned 33 tattoos but went on to explain 36 different artworks. This is so because I count three of these tattoos as a part of other tattoos — based on the sittings — they’d be incomplete without each other because of the set design in place.
I am glad I stopped at 33 and haven’t gotten anything done in about six years now. Officially retired, if you may. Yes, I love chess and it’d be great to have a chessboard-related symbol on but then, all my tattoos are in black so there is already a B&W thingie going on in there. Subtle.
Lastly, people often ask me whether they should get inked. My simple and honest answer is and will always be, “I don’t know.” Just that with this blog post live, I will be sharing this link whenever faced with similar questions. Not so subtle.
