A nose for making statements

Our country has somewhat of a love-hate relationship with piercings. The traditional norms around body piercings are always at war with current standards and trends. While many communities in India have a rich culture of jewellery among men and women, modern society attaches sexual and stereotypical connotations to them.

However, it seems that times are changing and our society is opening up to fashion trends that were previously thought of as strange. A style that’s catching among men in Chennai is nose studs or rings! Earlier this year, actor and singer Ayushman Khurana made quite a statement at Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda Festival with his hippie man-bun, dhoti pants and nose ring. Before that, Ranveer Singh posed for the cover of L’Officiel magazine in a shirt and nose ring-and-tie from Amrapali. Their fashion statements are making accessories such as nose pins acceptable among men as well!

“It’s got nothing to do with sexuality and proves a point to carry off anything,” says Karun Raman, a designer who recently added a nose stud to his list of jewellery. “I’ve always wanted to get one and now that I did, people are liking it. I won’t go as far as recommend it to other men because it’s a personal choice,” he adds. Interestingly, he continues, this trend has been typecast to be common among LGBTQ men — and truth cannot be further from it.

Says N Naveen Kumar, proprietor and tattoo artist at Irezumi tattoo studio — “A lot of men have come in here asking for nose piercings. A lot of men, and this is something I believe personally, are becoming very confident sexually and are overtly metrosexual.” The trend isn’t something restricted to the gay community, as many straight men have also walked in for a nose piercing. “Our society has become more open-minded to a lot of trends, though these tend to stay with certain groups. Honestly, nose piercings aren’t really a big deal,” he says.

Take Salwin Alfred, aka Alfy, a marketing executive with Paulsons, who recently got his nose pierced. It was something that was on his list of things to do and the act was his way of dealing with a change in his life. While his family hasn’t seen the stud yet, Alfy says that his friends have complimented him on it. “When I got it done, the trend was new and nobody I knew had done it. But now, it’s not just me anymore so I’ll probably remove it soon,” he laughs.

And there’s another reason for its emergence — a piercing isn’t permanent like a tattoo and as long as it’s done by a certified and clean piercing parlor, there should be no problems. “The main part is post-procedure care; men should take care to keep the wound clean and not touch it. The tool used should be disposable. Other than that, there’s nothing else to be concerned about!” Naveen concludes.