Every tattoo tells a story — here is one about faith

People have amazing things done to their bodies. It's an attractive, living, breathing, growing and mobile canvas to work with. One woman had the lyrics of a Bjork song (Bachelorette) tattooed in Braille on her back: 'I'm a fountain of blood, in the shape of a girl/ you're the bird on the brim, hypnotised by the whirl/drink me, make me feel real'. Stylish, yes. But a tattoo in Braille? Bjork?

However, who is to judge what makes a person happy? Or what a person wants to tell the world? Ask model and TV anchor Mandira Bedi who recently got into serious trouble for attending a cement dealers meet with `Ekom Kar' (God is one) in Gurmukhi tattooed on the back of her neck. Ekom Kar are the first words of the Granth Sahib. Leaders of the Sikh community are upset with Mandira Bedi. The jathedar of the Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh, has given her a two-month notice to remove the tattoo.

The Shiromani Akali Dal has threatened to move court for an act that has hurt the sentiments of a community. And Sikh scholars have pointed out that the Ekom Kar is meant to be respected, not flaunted. Mandira Bedi has promised to surgically erase what was almost indelible devotion to the concept of one God.

Mandira Bedi, reportedly, also has a Buddist symbol tattooed on her navel. Esha Deol has an Om and some Sanskrit fragments on her back. Rakhi Sawant has stuff tattooed on her arms, belly button and God knows where else. Malaika Arora Khan has some on her back. Thousands of kids have mantras and chants tattooed everywhere on their body. Are we going to see a big business in plastic surgery to remove objectionable body content?

Should our tattoo artists like Girish of Brahma Tattoo Studio, Pradeep Menon of Dark Arts and Russell Van Buerle of Comfortably Numb Studio (whom DNA wrote about recently) ensure they get their patrons to sign an indemnity bond keeping them insulated against legal action that could land them in court?
Hindus have used tattoos for centuries as an emphatic religious and fashion statement. Shiva, Ganesh and Kali along with the Om are very popular. It's a common belief that a tattoo of Hanuman can serve as divine protection from evil. The Ribari tribe of Kutch wears tattoos as an overt and proud display of their character.

Across the world it is the same: some Japanese people believe that if they wear a tattoo of a goddess, disease and evil will be kept at bay; Australian aborigines get themselves tattooed to stay protected from boomerangs; Cambodian and Burmese soldiers wear symbols in the belief it will keep them protected from bullets. Tattoos have been worn as medals of honour. They have been used to display status and announce sentiments. They are sometimes meant as punishment.

It would be interesting to see how scholars and community heads think of the Ramnamis, a tribe of untouchables living near Raipur in Madhya Pradesh. The Ramnamis have the name of Ram tattooed all over their body. Not an inch of space is left blank. The tattoo covers their arms, legs, chest, torso, back, neck, face, ears, their tongue and the inside of their lips. Their clothes have the name of Ram repeated on them thousands of  times over. The walls of their homes are covered in the name of Ram. At the entrance to their villages , the Ramnamis have majestic white pillars with the name of Ram inscribed millions of times in vermillion across it.

There is a practical — and shameful — reason for this practice. The Ramnamis were traditionally subject to physical violence from their upper caste neighbours. Their people would be beaten, their tongues cut (now you know the real reason for having the name of Ram tattooed on the tongue) and their homes destroyed. To protect themselves from such violence, the tribals used the word Ram as a 360 degree cover of faith. One can't imagine religious heads asking the mild and non-interfering Ramnamis to erase the name of the Lord from their bodies, regardless of whose sentiment it hurt.

No one is trying to justify Mandira Bedi's tattoo (least of all herself). And if one is committed to a faith, one should attempt to follow what it dictates, or what use is faith? But the distinction between following faith and doing what it dictates can sometimes be confusing. For example, is it okay to have a sticker with a religious symbol on your car's windscreen? Or painted on the rear bumper of a garbage truck? That could be seen as being in as poor taste as a religious symbol tucked away in your cleavage or on the navel. These are larger questions that every religious leader must ask. But more than the leader asking, every follower of the faith should voluntarily question.