| At A Glance | |
| Author | Zara |
| Contact | miss_spook@hotmail.com |
| IAM | uptown |
| When | Six months ago |
| Artist | Kirk Sheppard |
| Studio | Fleshworks Custom Tattoos |
| Location | Victoria, BC |
When I was younger, I was lucky enough to live in a house with not only my parents and my brother, but my mother's sister, and her mother. As a result of my mother and father (and auntie) working full-time, I would always go home after school to my mother's mother. In Gujarati, the language I speak at home, "Nanima" means "mother's mother," and so that is what I call her. I was lucky enough to be brought up by Nanima, who actually immigrated to Canada from Tanzania to help in my and my brother's upbringing. Everything that is good in me, is from her. She taught me everything - how to speak and read English, how to speak Gujarati, how to speak French, my multiplication tables... Everything.
I have always loved her more than anyone else. When nobody supported me, she was there by my side, giving me her support and love, even if she didn't agree with the choices I was making. Her unconditional love is something I hope to be capable of one day.
I had always wanted to be tattooed, but until I was sixteen I didn't have a concrete idea on what I wanted. One day when watching TV, it came to me. A teacup. I always associated drinking tea with Nanima, because she drank so much of it. She would always make me "tea" when I was little too - and by that, I mean she would dunk a tea bag in warm milk and tell me it was tea, as she knew giving an 8 year old caffeine wouldn't go over too well with my parents.
A teacup tattoo, that is what I wanted, and once I knew what I wanted, I only had two years to wait until my eighteenth birthday. Two long, long years. Over the years I refined my idea, and eventually decided to get a teacup on my left shoulder with "Nanima" written on it in Gujarati script, somehow. I asked my auntie for help in writing it down for me MONTHS in advance and told her of my idea - She kept my secret the whole time, though she is very very close with her mother. About 6 or so months before my birthday, I met my artist, Kirk at Fleshworks Custom Tattoos in Victoria, BC. I spoke with him about my ideas over and over again, until a month before my birthday, when I made my deposit and booked my tattoo for August 28th - A week after my eighteenth birthday. That gave me a little over 2 weeks of healing time before I would see my nanima again, which I figured would be enough time to get over scabbing and all that fun stuff. I went in about two weeks before my appointment to see the sketch Kirk had drawn up for me, and I was amazed. As someone who isn't artistic at all and has trouble even vocalizing ideas, I couldn't even imagine how he had drawn something so perfect and beautiful from my little idea.
The day I got tattooed, I was very excited, but also calm because I KNEW it wouldn't hurt, and if it did, it wouldn't matter, because my nanima is worth everything. The outlining of the tattoo wasn't painful in the least bit, however shading and colouring did get sore after a while. My tattoo took about 4 hours, and I'd say the last hour was the only time I felt significant pain. According to Kirk though, I was pretty twitchy, which I honestly don't remember.
Walking home was hell, to say the least. I was woozy and tired and really hungry. I got home and took a long nap, then my lovely boyfriend forced me to eat some food so I wouldn't pass out.
the healing was uneventful - I applied a thin layer of Lubriderm to the tattoo whenever it felt particularly tight, and otherwise left it alone. I knew it would scab, but since I had never been around anyone who was healing a tattoo before, I didn't know how ugly and flaky the scabs would be. I was TERRIFIED my tattoo was just going to flake right off.
On September 15th I flew home to Edmonton to visit my family. When I showed my mother my tattoo, she frowned a little bit and told me she wasn't a fan of it, because at that point she did not accept or support my mods(luckily, things have since changed because she realized that I am not getting impulsive, silly mods, and am thinking each idea through). I showed Nanima when she didn't have her glasses on, and she said it was nice. I pointed at my banner and said "what does this say?" and she asked me to bring her her glasses. I did, and she looked me in utter shock. She asked me, "why did you get that?" and I told her with complete sincerity the only thing I could say: "Because you are the most important person in my life. Because I love you." She and I discussed how long it took, pain, etc. and after a while I left the room to go on the computer. A few minutes later, I heard her behind me.
"Zara?"
"Yes?"
"Nobody has ever said that to me before. Thank you."
I love her with all my heart, and it makes me so happy that I brought her some joy with this gesture. I wanted to get the tattoo as a celebration of her life, not a memorial. I wanted her to see that I love her, and she does now, every time she sees my arm. She knows she is, and will always be, in my heart.
Getting tattooed
The finished product, a few days later.