The booming tattoo culture in the state of Goa, has almost made it ‘the place’ to get inked in the country
Tattooing is cool, trendy, sexy and a lot of fun. Everyonein Hollywood and Bollywood is sporting one or more. Tattoos are no longerconsidered to be only for the rough gangster or criminal but are accepted asbeing an art form in sync with other creative arts. Aaron Fernandes from Siolimfinds himself busy, irrespective of the time of the year, thanks to hisspeciality in replicating out intricate details to perfection, enhancing hispopularity as one of the best tattoo artists in town.
Aaron says, “The whole world comes to Goa and consequentlydifferent cultures, traditions and lifestyles creep in and become part of theGoan way. I am happy to say that the culture here is pretty liberal as far aswhat a person wants to get as opposed to getting inked because you have to, andbecause tattoos are cool. You have to still be happy with your tattoo when youare 60. Knowing how to choose your design accordingly is important. Lastly, afew words of caution. Tattoos are extremely addictive.”
Duncan Viegas’ speciality in portraiture has earned him thetitle of being arguably the best tattoo artist in Goa. Apart from having astudio at Calangute under the banner of Kraayonz, he also functions fromstudios in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. Duncan feels that the tattoo culture isstill in a stage of infancy and has a long way to go. He feels that, to a largeextent, it is now more of a fad than a culture really. He explains saying, “Howelse does one explain tattoo shops cropping up in every nook and corner in thenorthern belt especially in the areas of Calangute and Baga? A lot of theseplaces also offer temporary henna tattoos, which is alright if that's yourthing, but I do not feel it fits into the realm of what true tattoos are allabout really.”
Apart from the hype and craze, the myths surrounding tattoosare many too - the most common one being that tattoos cause AIDS or otherdangerous diseases. According to artists, the lack of hygiene could causedangerous diseases, but disposable equipment nowadays has eliminated thoserisks too. If your tattooist breaks a sealed packaged needle in front of you,uses disposable tips and so on, you are good to go. Also, every tattoo shopneeds to have a running supply of water and a washroom to ensure that artistswash their hands before and after every tattoo and that there is a proper meansto dispose of waste water after the tattoo is done.
