UMERKOT, Pakistan: Grinding charcoal with a few drops of goat’s milk, 60-year-old Basran Jogi peers at the faces of two small Pakistani sisters preparing for their first tattoos.
The practice of elder women needling delicate shapes onto the faces, hands, and arms of younger generations stretches back centuries in the Hindu villages that dot the southern border with India.
“First draw two straight lines between the eyebrows,” Jogi instructs her friend poised with a sewing needle.
“Now insert the needle along the lines — but slowly, until it bleeds.”
Six-year-old Pooja barely winces as dotted circles and triangles are tattooed onto her chin and forehead.
