The List: 3 Babas Who Inspire

("The List" is a new series on the blog. As the name suggests - an occasional list of things, people, places or thoughts that have something to say.)

Moving on from Baba Ramdev and his mission to "cleanse the system", here is a list of other babas who are making a difference through their own simple steps - 

• Photographer baba

Real name: Swami Sundaranand                                                     Age: 85 years old

Mission: 

Restore the pristine beauty of the Ganga and the Himalayan region before it's too late.

Ideology: 

Unlike other environmentalists, he does not oppose the building of dams in the region. He believes electricity generation is crucial for the development of the nation. It is the rampant construction of hotels and ashrams in Gangotri along with the dumping of wastes in the river that have serious environmental implications. 

"People say it is global warming. I say it is a global warning," baba tells The Sunday Times.

Modus Operandi: 

His passion for photography has led him to take photographs of the Himalayan glaciers, rivers and peaks during his umpteen mountaineering adventures since 1956. He plans to use these photos to spread awareness about the issue. 

• Traffic baba

Real name: Mukul Chandra Joshi                                                    Age: 75 years old

              

Mission: 

Catch the young to teach the old a few precious lessons on road safety.

Modus Operandi: 

Spends an hour daily at busy traffic signals in Noida, with pamphlets on road safety in Hindi and English and a loudspeaker in hand. He goes up to drivers who pull over at signals, talks to them about road safety and hands them pamphlets. Been doing it for 6 years. 

Ideology: 

After having retired from the Indian Air Force, Joshi was looking for a way to continue serving the country. The death of a friend's son in a road accident prompted him to go out on the streets and teach people the importance of obeying traffic rules. 

"My aim is to make this city an accident-free city. I believe every old person must do some good work for the society to actually prove that old is gold," Joshi tells Hindustan Times.

• Bhikari baba

Real name: Rama Shankar                                                               Age: 57 years old

Mission: 

Organize as many weddings of poor girls as he can. 

Modus Operandi:  

This Baba from Ramgarh, Uttar Pradesh along with his 20-odd disciples begs for alms to organize weddings of impoverished girls. People also generously contribute on their own, when they come to know of his mission.  He sometimes finds matches for the girls too and arranges weddings of several women in mass-marriage functions, as many as 21 in one function.

Ideology: 

He helps anyone who approaches him to get his daughter married, the only condition being the family is from a low-income background. He has conducted 600 such marriages so far and hopes to continue doing so, as long as he lives.

"My conscience is clear. I am not begging for myself. It really feels great when you see a smile on the faces of poor, helpless girls, who thank you for performing their marriages," Rama tells India Tribune.