Seems like cynicism, mistrust, practicality and all episodes of Emotional Attyachar put against the eternal feeling of togetherness and hopes of lasting a lifetime, is still unable to pop the romantic bubble of a couple happily-in-love. Else why, even in such trying times of delicate relationships, would couples go professing their undying love for one another in permanent ink on their bodies. It’s not only Deepika Padukone, who inscribed her then boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor’s initials on the nape of her neck or freshly divorced couple Eva Longoria Parker, who ensured her husband Tony Parker’s name inked before she caught him ‘sexting’, but many youngsters regret getting tattoos too. And that’s the reason why tattoo-makers are laughing their way to the bank with the big business of “cover-up” tattoos.
Abhishaik Madhur, the owner of Indelible Tattooz, says that almost one of out of every 10 tattoos he does are cover-ups. “It takes way more time and almost 50 per cent more effort on our part to cover a tattoo as we need to be very careful with every stroke and line,” he tells us adding that it is partly the responsibility of the tattoo artist to guide someone when they want to get a tattoo without thinking. “If someone comes to be in an inebriated state, then I ask him to come another day as it gives him time to think about his choices,” he says.
Lokesh Verma of Devilz Tattoos, who recently did a cover-up involving the entire arm, agrees. “Sometimes even a botched job can lead to dissatisfaction and we have many people who come to us to redo their tattoos or cover specific areas like a scar or a mark as well. We try to choose the best possible designs for the cover-up and usually go with a tribal or an oriental one, along with slight shading in the background,” he says.
However, not only fools in love can be blamed for the sudden boost in the numbers. With the number of years that pass, many tattoos fade and need re-touching or re-doing. Some even get racy tattoos that don’t go down well with parents and need them redone. Like Rohin Aneja, who also got a cover-up done for reasons other than romantic. “I was 21 when I got the religious symbol tattooed on my arm, but at 27 I was completely out of that frame. So, I first went for couple of laser sessions to reduce the darkness of the tattoo and then finally got a huge cover-up done, and it cost me over ` 1 lakh,” he says.