Entertaining To Earn A Living But Risking Their Health.

ISLAMABAD -- It's hard to imagine one standing still, like a statue on the road side near the traffic signal for hours; under the burning sun while having face and body completely painted. And the whole process is repeated in loops for the whole day. This is not for the sake of fun or enjoyment but is a hard ticket to earn money. Passersby always appreciate it.

In Islamabad, since the past few months such scenes attract the attention of passersby despite the fact that this profession has a history in the West. A number of silver, golden and green men could now be spotted standing at various locations in the twin cities.

They pose to be super human beings but all of them have their own stories focusing their hard struggle for survival. Even some of them are the sole bread and butter earners for their families whereas others have their own ambitions to earn money to meet their needs.

The Nation reached out to a few golden, silver and green men standing in various areas to find out what kind of face-paints and sprays they are using for their make-over and their impacts on their skin.

Muhammad Shan is a popular 'Golden Man' in twin cities. A resident of Khanna pull area, Shan used to stand on the signal in sector F-6. To a question, Shan made a statement saying, 'I use golden spray on my skin that lasts for a few hours and I remove it once I am at home. Initially, I got some allergy issues and my skin turned dull. It might be because of standing in an open air environment for hours having direct exposure to the sunlight and heat.'

'I have a two-year-old blind daughter,' Shan shared adding, 'I do not have any other option for earning at the moment.' He said he was responsible for earning bread and butter for his family and had to take care of her blind daughter and rest of the family members by earning only Rs1,500 per day. Another Golden Man, who used to stand near the F-7 informed that he tries to protect his skin from damages by applying various skin care products that are affordable for him.

To another query, he said, 'I have to present myself in a specific character so that I may attract the attention of the...