Dr B Choudhary looks at his oil paintings at his clinic in Patna. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Nov. 18: Patients at eye surgeon Dr B. Choudhury’s clinic are in for a visual treat. For, it is less a clinic and more of a miniature art gallery.

Visitors to the clinic on the ground floor of Priya Apartments near Dinkar roundabout can appreciate portraits and landscape paintings that adorn its walls. These are, however, not works of any professional artist. Dr Choudhury, who claims to be a self-taught amateur artist, is their progenitor.

“When I started painting, I did not think of putting them up for exhibition. My friends, however, suggested that I put them up in a place where people could see them easily, and I could get their feedback. So I started to display my paintings,” said Dr Choudhury.

One of these paintings caught the eye of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

“A colleague had asked me to give him some of my paintings. I made a portrait of Nitishji and gave it to him. My colleague displayed it at the golden anniversary celebrations of Kurji Holy Family Hospital. When the chief minister saw it, he contacted me over telephone and requested me to give the portrait to him. I agreed. Later, I learnt that Nitishji had put it up in his home or office,” the doctor said.

Asked what had inspired him to take up painting in the first place, he said: “During my youngest son’s marriage, 10 years ago, I thought of changing the interiors of my home. I started painting, and the walls of my house were adorned with portraits and landscapes. Whoever saw my paintings was surprised by my creativity. This kind of response inspired me a lot. I thought of taking painting up seriously from then.”

And there has been no looking back for this enthusiast. While landscapes attract him, Dr Choudhury’s speciality is portraits of celebrities. Portraits of actors and actresses such as Madhuri Dixit, Sushmita Sen, Hema Malini, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff and Vidya Balan jostle for space with those of Marilyn Monroe, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, PT Usha and Kapil Dev on the walls of his clinic.

Asked what portraits he was planning on next, Dr Choudhury said: “I want to make a portrait of Benazir Bhutto and Bill Clinton. But I am not getting a good picture of either. That’s why I have not been able to paint them.”

To pursue his passion has not always easy for the busy doctor, though. “I love painting but unfortunately I am very busy. I have a chock-a-block schedule. So I thought of pursuing my passion in my clinic,” said Choudhury.

There is a medical twist to the hobby. “Painting is like meditation to me. It helps me to beat stress. Whenever the flow of patients is less than other days or after I am done with my work, I sit down with a paint brush and canvas.”