Yes, what I’m rambling about is a tattoo!
In 2010, one fine morning Ankita walked out of the PG while we were asleep – and came back with a tribal pattern on her nape. Last year, on the first day of the year I accompanied PK to get her phoenix – once again on impulse. So, on the first Monday of the year, I decided to accompany Milan to hold her hand while she got inked. And somehow, in the next hour and a half – I walked out with mine!
I had always been clear about what I wanted – something smallish, with meaning and extremely personal. After, a year of oscillating between designs, I finally got the lines ‘Ad Astra Per Aspera’ just above my left ankle. I first came across the words in the movie Armageddon where the Apollo 1 memorial plaque is zoomed into. Ever since, those words have stayed with me.
Translating from Latin, they mean ‘Through hardships, to the stars’ and the font I chose was ‘Tengwar’ which would serve as a memoir towards my love for fantasy and LOTR.
The hurt was minimal and absolutely bearable – the experience even more treasured as all the girls came to lend their support – Ankita, Milan, Richa and Vidha; at the end of half an hour I stepped out of Funky Monkey in Gurgaon with cellophane paper wrapped around my leg and a huge grin!
Tattoo ahoy! One more activity crossed out on the to-do, only two days into the new year!