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Friday, May 09, 2014

Tattooing Customs

 Where I grew up first (Saugor-India), I did not come across this custom or lets say negligible or I was too young to notice or whatever  the reason. Once I came to Panjab and joined the village school (Kakrali- dt. Gujrat) I found a small tattoo on many foreheads Muslim boys. It was a small hilal and star in one corner of forehead.
The 'corner' needs explanation. Short or very short hair on heads (like we have currently in the US) was customary and may be clean shaved head but one thing was common which I call "taqseem".  To explain the figure of "taqseem" ('division' ) It is not like - with a dot up and a dot down the dash. It was drawn like a broad crescent with the empty belly facing up and its ends on each side have a smaller deep crescent with belly facing out. That is the way we learned to 'divide' without giving you any more details. OK so that is the way hairline of the forehead will be shaved with the sides coming down towards the outer aspects of eyes (I have given you anatomic description, somewhat boring because I cannot draw here).
 I go to a Gym. for exercise everyday and have a lot of people come there with tattoos on the arms chest back shoulders legs, you name the body part and it is there. Nearly all of them are white-skin persons yes men as well as women, (very rarely colored people). This morning on the today show or Morning Joe some discussion caught my attention
 "What do you think of the person/s who have a visible tattoo (of any kind) ?"
I do have some thoughts on this subject but want to keep myself from hurting persons with tattoos.

Please visit my Urdu blog at http://saugoree-bsc.blogspot.com/