Pune Tattoo Festival brings together several artists

October 15, 2016

The light drilling sound of the tattoo machine combined with the sound of cheerful music is what best describes the ambience at the Pune Tattoo Festival. It is a platform for all tattoo artists and enthusiasts to come together to understand the art and the workings behind making a tattoo. “There are around 62 tattoo stations with the artists present. Each station is occupied with at least one person who is getting a tattoo done. We’re expecting around 6000 people across all the three days,” explains Ronak Patel, the founder of the festival. The festival is on from 11 am to 10 pm till October 16 at Raga Lawns in Koregaon Park.

The first time Yogita Shetya got inked was when she wanted to inscribe the names of her children on herself. “People are opening up now and they are interested in getting tattoos. It’s no more about just have a religious symbol or someone’s name on your body but now people want to get tattoos that mean something to them. For some it is a way to express themselves and their culture. Tattoo artists try and understand the client’s vision and work according to that,” she adds. Shetya is also handling the communications for city-based Sach Tattoos.

Ritika Tara Sharma, a fashion stylist, has been patiently sitting upright for two hours at a stretch, while the artist carefully inks a colourful design on her back. Much to Sharma’s relief, her tattoo artist, Sachin Sherekar, mentions that her tattoo will be completed in the next 20 minutes. “I’m getting a water colour effect done. I feel that ‘Tara’ is all about colours. Inside that, I’m getting a lioness designed. A lioness has kind eyes but she also a fierce fighter!” she says.

Tattoo artists from cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata were present, whereas two artists from Nepal have also participated in the event. Apart from numerous stations occupied with tattoo artists, people were seen engaging in outdoor activities like skateboarding and listening to live music. Known for making hyper realistic rangolis, Pramod Sahu, who came all the way from Raipur Chhattisgarh, was seen engrossed in spreading different colour in places. “It takes 40 hours to complete this. It will get done towards the end of the festival,” he excitedly claims.

Many who come to get inked have a story to tell behind the design of the tattoo. Since the design is permanent, people get what that reminds them of something important that has impacted them in their lives. Shetya narrates one such story, “We had a young girl come to us. Her mother had passed away recently and she wanted to get a portrait of her’s done on her body. I still won’t forget what she said to us once the tattoo was done. She thanked us for making it possible for her mother to be with her forever.”