Growing mania for tattoos

We have often seen old people or many from villages, carrying tattoos on their arms or forehead. It is usually a very tribal or traditional form of tattoo, with little art and more of a ritual. In earlier days, it was used to mark recognition in case one got lost. Tattoo’s were first used by the Roman army to mark identity of the prisoners. Well, today, it has become a mark of being very “cool” and hip.

The most interesting aspect is that a formal school for tattoo, Headhunters' Ink Tattoo School has been in existence since 2012 in Assam. As the name suggests, this school trains students in the art if tattooing, mainly tribal forms and it is officially the first school set up in the region to revive and promote tribal body art. The school teaches everything - basic sketching techniques, colouring, designing, use of equipment and maintenance of hygiene. The course does not come cheap - charges are about Rs 1.2 lakh for a 10-week course.

In a way, it is good that we have a specialized school for tattooing. After all, it is one of our ancient art forms and various states in the country have various forms of this body art. Today, thanks to the westerners, this art form is limping back or else, it too would have got lost into oblivion. Just like yoga, thanks to the west, it is alive and kicking today. Yes, sometimes, it takes outsiders to come and show us insiders the treasures that we have.