Despite challenges, Banjara kept chasing his dream of becoming a tattoo artist. His efforts paid off, and he is currently running his own tattoo studio.

Banjara Merchant is a tattoo artist from Kolkata. He has been in this profession for eleven years now. Banjara started his career in Mumbai and has worked in many places like Nepal, Malaysia, and Bali. Currently, he has been running his own studio called Mantra Tattoo Studio for the last three years in Rishikesh.

Talking about his childhood, Banjara says he grew up in mountain areas like Nagaland and Chhattisgarh. He had always been fond of painting, drawing and participating in art competitions since his childhood. Banjara, who is infused with creativity, always looks for innovation and art, even in his business ideas. Upon turning eighteen, his interest deviated towards tattoos, and he started experimenting with them on his own body.

Speaking about his challenges, Banjara says that when he initially started, he was quite clueless and had no mentor to guide him through. He managed everything by himself and often struggled with irregular or no source of income for some time. This went on for a few years, but the fire and passion within him for tattoos still remained high and constant.

When asked about his role models, Banjara says he is inspired by the famous tattoo artists Paul Booth , Bob Tyrrell, and Anil Gupta, and he admires them for their artistic abilities.

Speaking about the pandemic, Banjara says as a travel lover, it was not easy for him to stay at one place during COVID. On the personal front, it led to fights between him and his partner since everyone was restricted to their homes. Eventually, his girlfriend broke up with him and went back to her country. However, getting back to his strengths helped him get over this phase. Overall, the pandemic gave Banjara enough time for self-introspection.

Discussing his learnings in the tattoo profession, Banjara says that he learned how to handle customers and meet their requirements. He also gained a lot by traveling and meeting new people.

Banjara advises aspiring tattoo artists to sketch and draw as much as they can. He adds that both art and tattooing are the same, but just the medium is different. Banjara feels that tattoo artists should focus on producing original artwork rather than just copying designs. He urges them to bring more value and innovation to the art industry.

In his free time, Banjara does various courses for self-development like yoga and meditation. He has been attending yoga training for three years now, which keeps him balanced and focused.

To conclude, Banjara says that we should all learn from our failures and keep moving in life.