Getting Inked

I got my first tattoo done in June 2009. It was pretty late for me as I wanted one for quite some time. But getting something done on your skin which is permanent - it takes guts. And there are many myths about tattoos especially when it comes to the pain part. Who would want to get a permanent design done on body and bear pain too? The thought itself is insane, or so says my mom at least.

One of the most important things you have to remember before getting a tattoo done is the selection of design or the words/phrase/name of the person and such. Since it's a permanent thing, it's utter foolish to get the name of your spouse tattooed. People these days get divorced at the age of 45 too. Imagine having the name of your divorced better half on your hand! Always be very practical and remember that nothing but a tattoo lasts forever!

Selecting a design you like, or you can associate yourself with is very much required. When you ask a girl what kind of a tattoo she wants, her first answer will be - I want a fairy/butterfly/star done. And 6 out of 10 girls will have at least one of these objects tattooed. Their imagination does not go beyond shoulder and ankle when asked about where they want a tattoo done. And last but not the least, their fixation for coloured tattoo. They want all bright colours in their tattoos. They forget that we Indians usually have wheatish complexion. Colours become dull/light after the tattoo settles down on our body. You need a flawless white skin tone to carry off coloured tattoos. Or select colours which do not have to remain bright to look dull - like maroon, green - which happens to be the basic colour of the ink.

After taking out all my frustration on the typical girly tattoos, coming back to the selection of design part - remember, this thing will stay on you forever. Get a tattoo done of such an object that you can relate to, or love (excluding lovers/husbands). Like your parents' name, face portrait of your child/sibling/yourself, a verse or phrase you swear by, a bird/animal you like - anything you know you will never hate or get bored of. 

Then comes the shape and size of the object. This goes hand in hand with the place of tattoo. How big/small the tattoo is, placement of which also depends on its visibility to you. Some people prefer to have a tattoo on their back, so that others can see those even when they wear a slight low back gown. or on wrist, neck, face, ankle - these are the places where you can spot it easily. I have two tattoos so far, and both are on my upper arm. they are placed in such a manner that I can show/hide them whenever I want to. My profession does not allow me to have visible tattoos, thus this arrangement suits me quite a bit.

The most important part - the pain part. People, tattoos are done by machine that has a needle at its end. This needle pierces your skin, goes deep inside till the fourth layer of your skin, while the process happens, you tend to bleed too - thus it pains. I would not say that the pain is unbearable; otherwise you wouldn't have seen so many people getting their whole body inked. The pain is there, and you can bear it. Initial 5 odd minutes, you feel a lot of pain, then your body gets used to the sensation. Wherever there is a bone, it pains more, less where there is flesh.

After getting the tattoo done, the healing process is equally important. Remember, it's a wound. Your skin is pierced thousands times. The ink has gone deep in and it is settling down. You need to take care of it just like you take care of your wound. Wash it with an anti-bacterial soap, apply the gel recommended by your tattoo artist 3-4 times a day. Keep your tattoo clean, let it breathe and don't overdo anything - sunlight or hiding it behind covers.

A tattoo heals within 15 days. The first layer of skin peels off, and the fresh layer comes back - on the ink that has been pierced in. This results into a bit dull effect of the tattoo, as the colour of the tattoo has been settled on your skin. That's why it's important to select colours wisely if you want a coloured tattoo on Indian skin. Remember not to pull out the peeling skin, as it may result into embossed effect of the tattoo which doesn't look so neat. The skin will come off on its own. And your tattoo will be a part of your skin in a few days.

Ah, that's about it - the whole lecture on tattooing. I have been thinking about writing on this topic for quite some time, but somehow this post never took a shape. Finally I have written the whole damn post on tattooing. If you have any other questions about tattooing, google it.

Yet another post

Yet another night, yet another post I begin to write, about all those things which keep happening in my life - again and again.

To begin with, teaching is shaping up well. Students are scoring good marks, weekend lectures are happening due to examination pressure and weekdays are spent with friends and fun. All in all, a good life.

Sometimes, things happen in a very strange manner. You don't even realize when some relationships become so very close to you. You don't see or talk to each other regularly, but there is always a connection between you and them. You can somehow sense their thoughts and feelings, you can feel their presence even though they are not around. Does it happen to you? It does to me at least.

And such relationships I cherish. I remember the time spent with them. I miss them when I am having a good time with my friends around - at dinners, over drinks or while watching a movie. They can make you remember them and miss them even when you are in a crowd.

Those regular here must have known by now who I am talking about. I do that in every second post these days. Reason is simple - it soothes me. As much as a road trip does, or scotch does. And it makes my blog a personal diary, and a few people try to read in between the lines too, and end up offering me some advise, but I am much more sane than I come across.

And hell, I am written about too. My dear friends write about me on their blogs, they acknowledge my presence and love me much more than I love them. They miss me when I am not around, they panic when I am not contactable. Ah, what would be life without them?

In other totally irrelevant news, I saw two movies recently - speedy singhs and Mausam. Both the movies are bad. Speedy Singhs is quite an ok one, but I don't know why it was made as there have been similar movies made in past - on the same theme and with the same community too. Russell Peters is totally wasted in it. Rather, he should stick to his stereotypes racist jokes and stand up. He excels there.

And Mausam - the less I say, the better it is. It is one of the worst movies ever made. It is full of various riots and terrorist attacks, bomb blasts etc. since 1991. And somehow the lead actors end up becoming a part of each of it - directly or indirectly. And still they survive. Phew, this happens only in hindi movies.

So all you wonderful people who have reached the bottom of this page, I have saved you from a disaster right now just as an incentive for reading the whole post. What? No more awards are accepted/distributed here for being a nice reader. It was a trend of 70s. 

Thoughts..

Sometimes, so many thoughts are running through your mind that you don't know where to begin from. Whether to blog, or save in drafts, or just tweet away, post status updates, save in mail draft, word file, write a diary, ponder, forget, cry, run away, accept, embrace, give up, fight back or simply ignore them. No matter how hard you try, they haunt you always. Our mind is that way.

Talking of mind, what do you think would be our mind? Heart is an organ, but mind? Where is it? Does it have a form? How come it controls us so much? How can it be an integral part of us and still remain non-existence in being?

Ah, too much of philosophy can kill me you know. My so called non-being mind is always so damn philosophical that I wonder - does it really stay somewhere within my personality? I have always been so carefree, or careless whatever you want to call me. The kind of thoughts I get when I am sad or low are damn scary to say the least.

Yes, the thought storm is at its peak at the moment. I don't say that I am sad or happy right now. I am just in a different mood. When you keep running in life, and suddenly lose all your strength just before the finish line because you are tired, mentally and physically. You want everything to stand still, but nothing does. You are stuck and trapped. Everything is moving but you. That is the worst feeling to have when you cannot afford to slow down in life. Nothing interests you, not even work you are in love with, to an extent that even your survival does not matter after some point.

But still you survive. And how! Hiding the tears, faking a laugh seem like childhood things to you when you stand there, still alive, right before the finishing line. It kills you each second, making you weaker by each moment, and that weakness makes you all the more stronger.

There is a turmoil in your heart. Or is it there in the mind? Or it's not there at all? Can an illusion create such an impact too by lurking around, making sure that you actually believe it to be true? Illusion is such an easy way out from this. But if only you could call it an illusion...

Relationships

The header itself is dripping philosophy. Well, you can do justice to such posts mostly when you are in the trans mode, or feeling extremely emotional/sentimental about certain things or people. On any normal day, you will end up being diplomatic and write it in a very politically correct manner. I am blabbering now. Well, a slow and boring day can do that too you.

For the past 4-5 days, I have not been in blogging mood at all. I have not even read anything. Nor am I planning to read any in the coming 4-5 days. I like such short breaks. I like the hibernating feeling once in a while. I like to cut off completely from some part of the world that involves technology. Our life is full of it these days. You can't even afford to keep your cell phone off for 24 hours. It's a mad mad world.

And this technology has made us more emotional, touchy and angry about so many things. Especially relationships. Earlier, long distance relationships had a lot of suffering as there were not many means to contact each other. These days, it has become a pain in a$$. You video-chat with the person sitting across miles and oceans, you get angry when he/she doesn't turn up on time or turn up at all, you get frustrated as you are feeling low and can't even hug him/her, you smile the moment you see the person appear online. Ah the technology!

I feel wonderful when I get to connect to people who are not in the same continent as me. But I talk to them whenever I want to, I get to see them, share those small things which were otherwise not possible anymore. But when the person is within your reach, when that person comes back in the same country that you live in, and is just couple of hours away, and you are unable to meet him/her or connect to him/her on regular basis, it becomes frustrating before you even realize it.

It happened with me twice. I was within the reach of the person and could not meet the person or met for a very short period. When they were in India, I couldn't even talk to them because they had their families around them since they were meeting them after a year, and we were anyway connected online. I even fought with one of them on this matter.

Later on I was thinking about it - it was my love for them that was making me angry. They might be feeling the same frustration when I am not reachable, or I have certain commitments.Funny thing is, these people are a part of my virtual world coming real! But they have managed to be a part of me, my life like they had always been around.

Ah, the boring stories of me and my mind. Someone correctly said - expectations lead to disappointment. And the series of such frustrating disappointments result into boring blog posts too which you can choose to ignore. Hah, anyway nobody reads me these days :P