In honor of her father, Pragya Kapoor gets a tattoo.

Pragya Kapoor, who is an actress turned producer, is celebrating her birthday today (June 29). Jayant K Yadav, the wife of filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor and co-producer of the Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan blockbuster Kedarnath, died in May from problems associated with COVID. Pragya’s situation is made more difficult by the fact that this is her first birthday without her father.

Pragya Kapoor got herself tattooed to commemorate the occasion, and the tattoo is dedicated to her father. The artwork portrays a metal butterfly with a Trishul as its head, symbolizing life and growth in her father’s cocoon, surrounded by all of his love, care, and guidance.

“It is claimed that butterflies are a symbol of the human spirit after death,” Pragya told SeetaGeeta, explaining the meaning behind her tattoo. I chose a metal one to represent my father’s strength. A ‘J’ stands for his name, Jayant, inscribed in Devanagari on one side, melting into a P (Pragya) on the other. It represents the fact that he is now residing within me.”

The inclusion of a Trishul in the tattoo has a complicated history. “The Trishul is built in the shape of a fire,” she explains. That’s because I was always meant to be with my brothers when he died, but I was unable to do it. So this was my method of igniting his pyre and uniting the flames with his creator.”

While her father lives on in her heart and mind via indelible memories, the tattoo serves as a continual reminder of his spiritual presence, if not physically.