A tale of tattoos turning terrible

Hyderabad: The tattoo culture has been blooming for more than a decade in Hyderabad but most of the inked Hyderabadis are regretting their tattoos. And to undo their mistakes the citizens are opting for cover-up tattoos that are twice the price or they are choosing laser treatment, which is much more painful and expensive than the tattoo.

Well-known tattoo artists in the city claim that majority of their clients want a cover-up tattoo on their ex-boyfriend or girlfriend’s name. Tattoo removal experts say there has been a noticeable increase of such cases during the last two years.

Citizens are being hasty while taking the decision of getting name of their spouse/ lover tattooed. Speaking about his decision, DJ Rahul said, “I got my ex-wife’s name and our marriage date tattooed that I regretted. So, I got cover-up tattoos on both of them; one of the tattoos took 11 hours to complete. Initially, I wanted to get the tattoos lasered but a couple of my friends who got it done weren’t happy about the outcome as laser treatment leaves a scar”.

Pinku Bijoy Ghosh, tattoo artist and owner of Inkkraft studio, believes that an artist/client should be ‘inspired’ rather than ‘influenced’ by other’s work. He said, “I receive minimum four clients out of 10, who want to get a cover-up tattoo. The clients want to redo their previous tattoos because they did not do proper research about the artist or art before getting inked.”

“Also, I receive numerous clients who want their girlfriend’s/ boyfriend’s name tattooed; I do not encourage such tattoos because usually these are the people who end-up getting a cover-up tattoo”. He added that many artists who mushroomed in the city are not passionate about the art and their work lacks finesse”. Hyderabad has a lot more to explore in this industry compared to Mumbai and Delhi”, he explained.

To laser a tattoo it takes minimum of seven to eight sessions with a gap of 21 days. Hina, counselor at The Tattoo Removal Clinic, said, “We receive about eight clients every 20 days for removal of tattoos. We have noticed an increase in such cases. If the equipment is not modern then the client will experience a lot of pain but our clinic is equipped with the best laser devices”.

Another tattoo artist, Amin Sultan Hajiani, who has eight years of experience in the field said, “Many clients get inked in the spur of the moment and they get it done from people who charge less compared to the professional tattoo artists. But the results are not satisfying hence they get a cover-up done, paying twice the price.

I get about 40 queries a month about tattoo cover-ups but I don’t take up most of these clients because some of them want a cover-up on a cover-up tattoo. Such cases one cannot do much because the damage is already done”.

By: Tera Sneha Reddy