Chocolates and flowers now seem clichéd, as this Valentine’s Day, youth of the city are gifting their loved one something ‘more’ permanent.
In a bid to showcase their undying love, youth of the city are getting the portrait of their lover tattooed on their body. Vinay Soni, a city based tattoo artist said, “I have already made several portraits since Valentine’s week began. There is another booking for V-Day and I am expecting more people coming in.”
A portrait tattoo costs a minimum of Rs 15,000 and has to be done on a minimum area of 6”X4” so they are made on either shoulder, back or chest. “Till now only boys are getting portrait tattoos made of either just the girlfriend or both themselves and their girlfriend,” Soni said.
However, when it comes to getting names of their lover tattoos, girls are higher in number than boys.
Amit Kumar, another tattoo artist said, “On a regular day we get around three to four such clients who want to get their lover’s name tattooed but during the Valentine’s Week it goes up to six to seven clients a day.”
Soni informed that he already has seven bookings for tattooing names on V-Day. “Interestingly, not just youth but also middle aged women are coming in to get their husband’s name tattooed on their arms,” he said.
However, getting a permanent tattoo often prove to be a regrettable decision as after break up people end up at the tattoo parlour again to get them covered up.
“I have cases where a person came to me last V-Day to get their lover’s name tattooed and this V-Day they are covering it up with the name of their new lover,” Soni said.
While getting a name tattooed costs around Rs 2000, getting it covered costs almost double as the coverage area increases. However, covering up portraits becomes more problematic as the face in the portrait has to be changed. “If a boy has his girlfriend’s face tattooed, we change it to an old tribal woman or something similar,” Soni said.
To ensure that there are no issues in future, the tattoo artists always get a consent form signed in the future which includes clauses like the tattoo design is chosen by the client, the client is over 18 and others.
“Before tattooing a name or a portrait we properly counsel the client and make them understand that this is going to be a permanent thing. While some people back away, most still want to continue with these tattoos to prove their love,” Soni said.