Young tribals want tattoos erased

As soon as she secured admission in a Ranchi college, Anita Oraon made her mind up - she would have the tattoos on her face removed as soon as she could. Like most girls from the Oraon tribe, Anita in her childhood was tattooed with three marks on the brow and two on each temple. But little did she realize then that the ink would become a burden too heavy to carry all her life.

Often ridiculed at school and on the streets of the city because of the marks on her face, Anita decided she would go for a laser tattoo removal process before her life in college began. "Traditionally, girls from the Oraon tribe get tattoos - know among us as godna - on their faces at childhood and as they grow up they got more on the arms and the back. I got mine removed before joining college because I knew my classmates would make fun of me. I did not want them to believe I was different from them."

Anita is not the only young tribal who has chosen to get rid of the ink and the ancient tribal art is now on the brink of disappearing. Youngsters are reluctant to get a godna done and those who already have are queuing up at skin clinics to get them removed.

Dr Saroj Rai, the only dermatologist in Ranchi to offer tattoo-removal facilities, said: "Almost 10 to 15 tribal girls approach me every month to get their godnas removed. Most of them are young and are about to join college or are going for job interviews. They believe that the godna is embarrassing and people look at them differently and with repulsion because of them. Some married women also approach us for the therapy, but their numbers are not as large."

The various tribes of Jharkhand had different reasons for marking themselves - while some did it to prepare the young folk for the mental and physical pains of life and help distinguish them from people of other tribes, others believes it was a form of a permanent ornament, something that would stick with them even in the afterlife.

Girdhari Ram Gaunjhu, former head of the tribal and regional languages department at Ranchi University, said: "For the Ho folk, godna was a sign of purity, the Santhals believed that a tribal without a tattoo would be eaten up by insects after death and the Khariya people looked at it as a mark of courage and valour. Every tribe had different tattoo designs to distinguish themselves from each other," said Gaunjhu.

Unlike the simple tattoo process used by the ubercool in cities these days, getting a godna can be very painful. Women artists - known as 'malaarin' - used to go from village to village and make godna on girls above the age of 10. Gaunjhu said: "The girl is held tightly and a piece of cloth is stuffed in her mouth. A bundle of seven needles - dipped in a mixture of kajal and the milk of a lactating woman - is used to carve the pattern on the girl's face. The wound is covered with fresh cow dung, which works as an antibiotic. The whole procedure of making a godna takes at least three days and the pain can last for weeks."

So why have the tribals who have gone through such pain to ensure their traditions do not disappear are now choosing to get rid of them?

Gaunjhu believes that people do not want to be recognized as tribals anymore. "Except for some who flaunt their tribal legacy for political interests, most believe they are looked down upon by the so-called upper classes," he said. "Students in particular do not want to be identified as tribals - they are apprehensive that even if they get admissions for higher education on merit, they will be discriminated against on the pretext of being from a reserved quota," Gaunjhu added.

Migration to urban centres for jobs and livelihood is another reason for the tribals to ditch their tattoos. "Many tribal folk are now settled in big cities and they do not see this art form on the streets there. Their sensibilities have been altered by the life in metros and they do not want their children to undergo the pain they have been through," Gaunjhu said, adding that Body piercing, another traditional tribal art, is also going the godna way into oblivion.

Though some tribals lament the loss of tradition, most are not in favour of godna. Budhni Oraon, a 75-year-old, said: "I know that godna is an integral part our culture and lifestyle, but they are more of a problem in this era. I still have the tattoos that I got in my childhood while I was living in my ancestral village where everybody had a pattern on their bodies. But I do not want my grandchildren to get them done."

Budhni added: "After I moved to Ranchi with my family, the people here started treating us badly and did not give us any respect. The sight of a godna invites ridicule in cities and I do not want my children to go through the insults that I have had to face."

Ironically, the urbanization that is causing the disappearance of tribal arts could also lead to their revival. Tribal tattoos have now been adopted by the city youth as a style statement and people flock to the dime-a-dozen artists to get themselves inked. Mike Cowasji, a prominent Delhi-based tattoo artist, gets at least four to five youngsters a month demanding a tribal pattern - mostly Maori or Celtic - on their bodies. "Tribal adaptations of zodiacs and animal figures are among the most preferred and many also choose the warrior and valour symbols," he said

The trend has been evident in Jharkhand as well. Gaunjhu said: "We do see some youngsters making a traditional godna or getting ears pierced, but they are now doing it to make a fashion statement, not to uphold tradition."

Tuesday 15 January 2013

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