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Body art is fast becoming a fashion statement among the young in this most liberal city in Pakistan, and they are flaunting tattoos and body piercings despite rebuke and ridicule. Naveed Ahmed, a tattoo artist, said boys and girls in the age group of 14 to 28 years and even older clients came for body art. The favoured designs for tattoos were maps, dragons, reptiles, alphabets, comic book heroes and flowers. Ahmed, who has two body art parlours (X-Tra 1 and 2) here, said he had tattooed 900 people, but body piercing was more popular. He has pierced more than 8,000 bellies, ears, noses, nipples, eyebrows, lips, chins and private parts for customers, according to the Daily Times newspaper. On an average, Ahmed said he made four tattoos and 10 piercings every day and had more female clients than male. Belly button piercing was a favourite with the girls while boys preferred eyebrow rings.
While body art might be a hit with the fashion conscious youth, their parents are not too thrilled about their children's frivolities. According to a student, parents were not ready to accept the new "cultural variation" or "fashion plague," as his parents referred to it. He said his parents thought his tattoo looked like he had got burnt and his wounds had turned black. Hamza, a graphic design student, said going around with tattoos on the neck or elbows was not easy as people stared hard and often ridiculed him.