Tattoo Manual

I've been trying to convince my parents to get me a tattoo for years now (with no success). This post is dedicated to people who want to convince their parents to let them get a tattoo, provided they're getting it for the right reasons (I don't support impulsive decisions when it comes to tattoos because they're permanent and aren't supposed to be marks of regret later in your lives). 

This post addresses the various reasons why people get tattoos and where could one ideally get a tattoo.

REASONS

According to a tattoo artist on Teen Wolf, the Tahitian word 'tatau' means to leave a mark. Thus, it is not only the content of the tattoo that symbolises something, but the act of getting yourself tattooed itself is symbolic. In many cultures, getting a tattoo is actually a rite of passage. 

However, the reasons for getting tattoos have changed over time. Now, tattoos aren't just symbols of rites of passage; they're style statements, drunken mistakes, and so on and so forth. Very often, they're regretted later in peoples' lives because they haven't thought properly about what getting a tattoo would mean. To illustrate, I once came across a facebook post in which a girl got the face of her boyfriend of one week on her arm. And then he broke up with her because he thought she was a creep. While it was spectacularly hilarious to read, it really is something to think about. People get their partners' names tattooed all the time, and when there's a divorce/break-up, they regret their tattoo. The point of this paragraph is this: do not get a tattoo if you aren't 100% sure that you won't regret it. 

Then there are people who get impersonal tattoos that is meant more for style statement than what it personally means to the person who carries the tattoo. Very often, regrets in this case range from fading of colours of tattoos (which makes it lose points for style) to the design of tattoo going out-of-date. Sometimes, people just deal with having these tattoos. They have no specific attachments to them. If you're thinking about getting a tattoo for reasons that have the phrase 'style statement' somewhere in them, then you need to think carefully if you get one. Make sure you do not regret it.

Now the third reason to get a tattoo goes back to the tahitian meaning of the word itself. Being marked is a rite of passage itself, but the content of the mark illustrates exactly what you're trying to immortalise. For example, one of my friends wanted a phoenix tattoo because she wanted her body to carry the proof that she overcame the hard periods in her life and was born anew because of them. These kinds of tattoos are hard to regret, especially if you're a sentimentalist who loves to hoard various things/marks that represent important moments in your life. 

My reason for wanting a tattoo is the third one-- I want a tattoo that captures something that I will always believe in. It would be a kind of an anchor for me. So, when I find myself adrift, I can just look at it and feel grounded. Obviously, it was hard to find something that I will always believe in-- I took years and years to decide what I believed in the most. And then I took some more time to think about what could capture what I believed in perfectly. I want an Oroboros. For people who do not know what it is, it is a serpent eating it's own tail. It means a lot of things to me: it means that no matter how many changes I may face, there is still hope for some continuity; it means that I can always find light at the end of a dark tunnel; it means balance between what I do and what I get. It also marks me as a Slytherin (which was a secondary, but not unimportant reason for me choosing this). 

POSITIONING

If you're not a celebrity, I'd recommend that you be smart about where you get the tattoo. A lot of professional fields are very strict about tattoos on bodies. It's fairly justified too-- if you're a lawyer and you have a smiley face tattooed on your cheek, do you really expect any potential clients, the opposition or even the judge to take you seriously? There are some rules that need to be followed when you're deciding where to get a tattoo. take a look at the following points:

1. Make sure that your tattoo isn't exposed too much to the sun. 

The more exposed your tattoo is to the sun, the faster it fades. And tattoos really don't look nice if they're faded. 

2. Make sure it can be easily hidden.

Being a lawyer or a banker doesn't mean that you can't have a tattoo-- just be smart about where you're getting it. Make sure to get it in a place where people can't see it. While this may go against the mindsets of people who want to flaunt their tattoos to the world, they need to realise that getting a tattoo in an overly exposed patch of skin would not only make it fade faster, but can also have severe repercussions later in their lives.

3. The pain factor.

Getting tattooed on fleshy parts hurt less. So, if you're looking for places where they can be easily hidden and yet not cause you a lot of pain when it's being done, think of places like chest, biceps, stomach. Because I'm a masochist (my teacher said so; sometimes I believe her), I want to get mine close to my ankle. The ankle is one of the most painful areas where one can get a tattoo because it's so close to the bone. I imagine mine as the serpent would look like it's wrapped around my ankle, instead of a circle on it. Just remember-- if pain is a factor which affects where you get a tattoo, avoid bone-protruding areas.

Mom, dad, if you're reading this, please know that I've really really thought about this and I really want a tattoo. 

For people in Delhi who are looking for Tattoo parlours to go to or tattoo artists to get more information from, I'd recommend you seek out Mr. Adarsh in Kamla Nagar. He's more into piercing, but his sister-in-law has a tattoo parlour (the visiting card for which I've inconveniently misplaced) in Kamla Nagar itself. I'm pretty sure his magic hands are a family thing, so if my parents allow me to get a tattoo, I'd be making my way over there without a second thought.

If you need to know something more about tattoos, you can always leave a comment for yours sincerely, 
~Orange

About Writing

So, I think I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that I was employed as an editor, right? Well, my job profile includes a lot of writing. While I personally prefer to read more than write, I still enjoy what I've been writing. I realised one thing, though-- writing is hard.

A lot of people say that, yes. They talk about not being able to articulate themselves, or rambling off onto some other topics and so on and so forth, but the problems I faced were distinctly different. The thing is, I'm supposed to write long works. Like, really long. As in, I don't need to do a NaNoWriMo ever again long.

While it's easier for me to develop a plot and build a story around it, what I had real problems with was consistency of character development. This really becomes a problem in works which have to be in a series. I have to make the same characters, lead them into a different situation, and make sure that they do not appear to be completely different people from the earlier book in the series. 

And then there's the whole thing about letting characters go too. While writing characters, I get deeply attached to them. And then comes the time to kill them. I feel like crying every freaking time I have to do so. I don't know how Rowling did it. Fred, Severus, Dumbledore and all those characters were so close to her. They were like her horcruxes, little parts of her own soul and she had to kill them. It's really distressing and not good for mental health.

Anyway, I will end this post with a writing tip: It doesn't matter what you're going to write about, ALWAYS DO YOUR RESEARCH. If you're writing about a social cause, make sure you know a lot about it (if not everything), if one of your character has Asperger's or ADHD, make sure to research about them and then start forming the character. Research does not always mean Google. It's better if you know someone who's familiar with what you're writing about (a person with Asperger's if you're writing a character who has Asperger's). But if you do not, Google's fine too. Just make sure that you do your research carefully. Plot loopholes because of lack of research are a bitch. Seriously.  

Yours, 

~Orange

The Perfect Storm

One of the reasons I'm very erratic at blogging is that I can only write if I find myself at the eye of the storm (metaphorically speaking, of course) and the motivation just hits me. When this happens, I need to write down whatever I'm thinking. I can't capture it later. Usually, I have my phone with me, so I type it on that. Today, I'm blogging whatever I typed out during the dust storm that happened a few hours ago.

The weather turned suddenly.  The wind cradled the dust and rose in a spiral upwards. The leaves left their safe abodes to come out and dance with the dust in a silent symphony. The wind howled with joy and raced the cars in the street, winning and losing at the same time. It wanted to grow bigger and bigger—into a storm and into a hurricane. When the transformation finally happened, the storm grinned with flashes of lightning and the sky lit up. The raindrops made their way down, eager to play with the dust that couldn’t rise up. Petrichor was here.  

I also clicked a picture called 'Stormy Lights' and put it up on Instagram. Follow me at 'INSANEORANGE9' to see it (I'm still figuring out how to find a link to an Instagram picture. Help?)

Technologically inept and yours,

~Orange