Tattoos seem to have taken over the lives of millennials, not just as a fashion statement, but also as a means of expressing their identity. With the onset of the new year, resolutions and habit trackers find their way to the spotlight for the first few weeks, but something that is offbeat this season is that every new year, a bunch of my friends go out to get tattoos under the pretence of "new year, new me."

Now, for the longest time, I never understood the concept at all. But I decided to ask them why they decide to get a tattoo every new year, and most of the answers were interesting.

Why Do You Get A Tattoo At The Start Of Every New Year?

"It started off as just a thing off my bucket list in 2014, but then in 2015, I got another one because it was exciting. It's like I know nothing on my resolutions list is going to ever be fulfilled, but this one thing is standard. I know that I will get a tattoo and I will feel good about myself. It's a better ritual than breaking habits, losing weight or whatever else people do. This one is a guaranteed happiness bringer." Shreya, 26.

"There are so many things I want tattooed on my body, and now I'm running out of places where I can hide the tattoos from my mom. But honestly, it's just refreshing to go get a tattoo on the first day of the year, it's some sort of a ritual where I feel like a better person. The joy of getting a tattoo is great in itself, but at the beginning of the year, it feels like something new, something fresh. It simply just makes it feel like a journal entry for each year, which is cool, I guess?" Sukanya, 22.

"Every year I get a new tattoo, and every year it feels just as exciting and new. Starting off the year with a new tattoo is some sort of reassurance that good things will happen this year and that the year started on a good note. It's a good way to welcome the year because it's different and exciting." Manan, 23.

"I have one rule, once it's 1st Jan of any year, I get a tattoo. It's become sort of a habit, I have 12 tattoos, of which 7 are new years tattoos - not new year themed, I got them during new years. But the feeling of inking yourself at the very start of the year gives you something new at the very beginning of the year, it's honestly some indescribable feeling, it just feels right. And I make sure I go to different places every time I get tattooed, it's like a tattoo travel wishlist." Siddharth, 23.

"I usually go get tatted with my buds, 3 of us, for the last 6 years have been going together on the 1st or 2nd to get a tattoo. They aren't the same tattoos or anything, we just go together, it's like a friendship bond or whatever. But it feels so cool to get a tattoo right at the beginning of the year, with all my closest buds around to share the weird joy we get from getting inked." Kedar, 23.

The reason why people get a tattoo at the beginning of a new year may vary, but the fact that everyone is so excited about it is genuinely a sweet sentiment. It's probably a way of starting over or making the most of the new year but either way, the joy it brings them is always the same.