Gouranga dressed as Jesus Christ. Telegraph picture

Behrampore, Aug. 17: Some have seen him as Mahatma Gandhi, some as Jesus Christ. In reality, Gouranga Haldar is a fisherman.

On a sultry afternoon 12 summers ago, Gouranga was walking past the district magistrate’s office here in Murshidabad district when a statue of Gandhi caught his eye.

He couldn’t stop staring, when an idea struck him.

That monsoon, during a fair organised in Behrampore town, 200 km from Calcutta, he dressed up as the Mahatma. A stick in hand, he stood still as a statue on the mela ground for hours.

As people jostled for a better view, Gouranga knew he had found his calling.

The mela committee members were so impressed that they signed a contract with him to stand as a human statue for all the days of the fair.

From that day on, Gouranga’s fishing net began to gather dust as he took up his make-up brush.

Using his imagination and photographs of famous people, he prepared costumes and make-up kits for Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Ramakrishna and Shiva. Within a few years, his reputation grew in the district and beyond.

Gouranga, 38, now gets calls from mela committees and Durga Puja and Kali Puja organisers from districts like Nadia, Howrah, Burdwan and Birbhum.

One day of performance in Murshidabad district fetches him Rs 700. Outside the district, he charges Rs 1,000 a day.

“But I have to spend about Rs 300 on travelling and make-up, which leaves Rs 400 for myself. But the earning is seasonal and the amount is not enough to run my family. During Durga Puja and Kali Puja, I have to perform for roughly eight days and earn about Rs 5,600 to Rs 8,000. But this does not help much in the long run,” Gouranga said.

His wife Rita says her family — the couple has two sons, aged seven and nine — was “much better off” when Gouranga used to catch fish in the Bhagirathi. “Then we did not have to count our pennies. I worry when he performs as Jesus Christ on Christmas Day in the biting cold. But this has become his passion,” she said.

Babul Banerjee, the secretary of a big-budget Kali Puja in Behrampore, says the puja appears dull without Gouranga. “We bring performers from Calcutta during Kali Puja. But Gouranga is a must. He is our box-office.”