“When I got to know what happened to me, I wanted to die.” said Subarno whose life, at the age of 22, took such an awful turn due to a relatively “small” mistake. 

It’s not that his life was very good before. He lost his father in 2019 in a tragic train accident. After that, he left his studies and started working to feed his family of five people. But he was all right. Working as a daily labour he and sometimes his brother would earn around 9000 rupees per month. And they were getting by.

But Subarno had one wish. He loved tattoos. “I always wanted to have a tattoo because they look so fashionable,” said Subarno. “But tattoo parlours are expensive so I did not dare to visit them.”

But one day he made up his mind and went to a local tattoo shop and got a tattoo. “It was a mistake on my part.” Subarno lamented.

After a few years, he suddenly fell very sick. The fever didn’t go away and he became exhausted. He visited a local doctor but, because he needed to earn money, he stopped treatment after just a few days.

In August last year, our Community Health Worker (CHW) in Bagbazar slum found him bedridden and in a dire condition. She immediately notified the Street Medicine team who got took him to the doctor. He was advised to have tests at a government hospital. These did not identify the cause but when he was tested for HIV it came back positive.

“At first I didn’t believe it. It was just not possible. I am not married and never had been in a physical relationship with anyone. But then my doctors noticed my tattoos and asked me when and where I got them.” said Subarno.

And after listening to the story of his tattoos, doctors suspect Subarno contracted HIV at the  tattoo parlour.

“If the needle that is being used to make the tattoo is not properly sterilised and has been used before, there is a fair chance of being infected with many diseases.” said Dr Ghosh, “Subarno went to a tattoo parlour that uses cheap devices and those are not to be trusted.”

“I was devastated because I never thought my wish to be fashionable would turn my life upside down,” Subarno said. He shut himself away and  stopped even talking to his family. At one point he even stopped taking life-saving HIV treatment. But Calcutta Rescue team started counselling him regularly and now after several months of intensive  support, Subarno is starting to accept his condition and has restarted treatment. He also wants everyone to be aware of the risks before getting a tattoo.

So if you want to get a tattoo make sure you use a reputable parlour staffed by professionals.  Stay safe, stay healthy.