Tattoos are beautiful arts and they should mean something

Hello everyone J , today I had another interesting interview with one of my fellow students  Nandita about her 2 Tattoos and their meanings which I would like to share with you.

 

Her tattoos and their meanings

Nandita is a 19 year old student form India who studying with me in Holland. She got her first tattoo at the age of 13 in India with two of her good friends. The first tattoo is an arrow which is located on her left forearm. The tattoo was done spontaneously with her two friends who all choose the same spot but a different motive. Partially, the tattoo is a reminder of her friend but the more significant and consistent meaning of the tattoo is that of a reminder. The arrow tattoo is pointing upwards, symbolizing her to always do her best to aim high in life. It is a quite visible tattoo for herself and therefore a nice and constant reminder of her goals. However, other people tend to misinterpret the tattoo as an Anker, a Sagittarius arrow or they see it as a symbol for love. I believe it is interesting so see how there are different perception of which meaning the tattoo owner assigns to it and how strangers see it. Additionally, Nandita’s second tattoo followed at the age of 16 and was made in the Netherlands together with her siblings. They all have a sentence written in Hindi at their back between the shoulders. This tattoo has several meanings as the sentence itself has a deeper meaning for her and her siblings; it means that the three are always there to support each other; to hold their each other’s back. This tattoo has a meaning for Nandita but other people, especially those who do not speak Hindi, cannot assign any meaning to it. If anyone of you is thinking about getting a tattoo on this spot then when it comes to pain the tattoo which hurt the most was the tattoo in the neck. This could also be due to the fact that the tattoo on her forearm also got numbed in India before so she could not really feel the pain. The pain however was only present for a few days and then it was fine and all healed well. Overall, the tattoos are there to remind Nandita of something; for instance strength, unity, family or higher aims.

 Perception by society

Nandita is a person who has tattoos for a reason, as a reminder of for her important things in life. For herself, the tattoos are not too visible, especially the one on her back. However, she intentionally wants to present her tattoos publicly by also buying clothes which reveal them. When I asked her if she ever had problems with it or negative comments she surprised me by stating that this was not the case. Her family and friends do not mind her tattoos they just want her to not overdue them since that could affect her future career perspective. The only thing was that Nandita was forced to hide her tattoos for 4 years while visiting a Christian school. Besides, she receives positive reactions for them. I think it is a great thing to be proud of your tattoos and showing them instead of hiding them because of the danger how other people could perceive you. As she mentioned herself, nowadays we get more and more used to tattoos. We see them in magazines, commercials, other individuals and especially TV shows. As she stated, TV shows such as Tattoo Inc. make tattoos more popular and less connected to negative associations. For her tattoos are art and beautiful and a way to express something. In contrast to that is the modern tattoo trend where people tend to get tattoos just because it is ‘modern’ or ‘trendy’ to have them nowadays. I share her opinion by saying that people should have a reason for doing tattoos; even it is just the beautiful art which should always be presented on one’s body.

Plans for future Tattoos

 Considering her passion for tattoos, she potentially wants to get some more of them. One such future plan is to get a tattoo of the Three Musketeers which should also emphasize the close bond and relationship between Nandita and her siblings. Another planned tattoo is a triangle which upside down and located at her right forearm. For Nandita, the triangle symbolizes foundation and strength. Another tattoo would be the word surrender written on her left wrist/forearm. This means for her to just let things happen without letting them get too close to the person. Moreover, considered is the English word ‘grit’ translated in to Roam letters; standing for always keep on going no matter what. Finally, in addition to the arrow she is thinking of getting an Anker next to it to have the balance between rising up and being grounded.

Does anybody of you want to share their meanings of their tattoos or their perception by society ( positive, negative) ? =)