The Tattoo craze has Grown

Vimal Chander Joshi interviews Michael Cowasji, owner, Tattoos by Mike, Delhi.

Do you think that tattoo art can make a promising work option today?

It can. I am a qualified mechanical engineer. After job-hopping for several years, when I wasn’t satisfied, I became a tattoo artist. If you are good at your work, the sky is the limit. Once, I worked on a client who paid as much as Rs 85,000 for one big tattoo,  which I finished in just eight hours.

This business relies solely on the rage for tattoos among youngsters. Is it getting more popular?

I’ve seen it getting to be a bigger craze in the past two years. Earlier, very few people wanted tattoos. Now it is popular not only among the youth but among people of all age groups — from teenagers to the elderly.

Many tattoo studios in India are run by untrained or badly trained and ill-equipped ‘artists’. What do you have to say about it?

It’s true that learning tattoo art from the Internet is very dangerous. At my studio, everyone who works for a few months ends up starting his own studio.

In the past one-and-a-half years, 30 youngsters branched out from my studio and became artists themselves, but one needs to be an expert before taking the plunge. Whether you are making a tattoo or removing it through laser, it needs perfection. Even a small flaw can leave a scar on a person’s body.

What should an aspiring tattoo artist be careful about?

A person should be wary of health hazards. The work takes a toll on your health. I have spent 15 years in the tattoo art business. Now my eyesight is getting weaker. By working continuously with guns and needles, your fingers also get rough. There is a lot of fatigue, too.

Tattoos, bikes and music — do all three go together?

I think so, yes. Besides tattoos, music is my second passion, for which I get time only on Tuesday — my off day. I love bikes, too. I get some bikers also at my studio for tattooing.

Author: HT Horizons

Date: 21st Jan., 2010

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