The tattoo industry in India is booming and is thought to bring in over Rs 20,000 crore annually. The Indian tattoo market is thriving, ranging from professional studios in malls to seaside booths in Goa. The plus point of setting shop in this business is that despite being a menial job that requires no qualifications as such, the target market of the industry is mostly the elite metropolitan populace. One can thrive in this line of work, even after dropping out of education.
Of countless people who have cashed in on the booming tattoo market in the country is Suresh Chakma, originally hailing from the mountainous valleys of Arunachal Pradesh. The 26-year old youngster is now a successful tattoo artist, operating at Tirupur Central Bus Station in Tamil Nadu. He owns his tattoo shop and is popular in the locality, having a loyal customer base.
Suresh Chakma did not have his tattoo shop until about 2 years ago. He studied only until the fifth standard due to his family’s financial constraints and took up tattooing as a hobby in his teenage years. He learnt the skill and then left his home state of Arunachal Pradesh 8 years ago, traveling to places like Delhi and Gujarat, where he found employment in Tattoo shops. Two years ago, he got married and settled down in Tamil Nadu.
Once he was married, he realised that merely working in a tattoo shop would not allow him to support his family and hence he arranged some money and opened his tattoo shop at Tirupur Central Bus Station.
Suresh Chakma said, “I make up to Rs. 10,000 per day. For a word tattoo, I charge 200 rupees per letter, and for an image, I charge 300 rupees per inch. More and more people today prefer to have their own or their partner’s names tattooed on their skin. People are also very interested in getting butterfly and heart tattoos”.
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