Munish Sood
MANDI: Amid the rush of honking vehicles and summer tourists winding through Himachal Pradesh roads from Tirthan to Kullu, a silent figure stood out — not for what he had, but for what he lacked.
No legs. No vehicle. No fanfare. Just two heavily padded knees, a dusty backpack and a heart that refuses to stop walking.
Locals now know him simply as Babaji — a humble pilgrim with no surname, no social media and no entourage. But the path he treads is nothing short of legendary.
Onlookers were stunned to see him making his way toward Bhuntar on foot — or rather, on knees. He had no crutches, no wheelchair. Only sheer willpower guiding him forward. He has walked, in this same manner, to sacred sites like Muktinath, Joshimath, Kedarnathand now Shrikhand Mahadev, one of the most treacherous pilgrimages in the Indian Himalayas.
What drives a man with no legs to climb mountains that even the fully-abled hesitate to attempt?
“I walk so people don’t give up,” Babaji says in a quiet voice. “So they don’t hang themselves or eat poison. Maybe if they see me, they’ll choose to live.”
That sentence, simple yet seismic, stopped local hotelier Panki Sood in his tracks.
“I was driving down from Tirthan to Kullu when I first saw him,” Sood told TNR. “The traffic was too heavy, I couldn’t pull over, but the image of him stayed with me. On my way back, I found out he had camped nearby. I had to meet him. And that meeting… it shook something in me. It was like meeting a living message.”
Sood, who has seen the mountains cradle both resilience and ruin in visitors over the years, said Babaji reminded him of what true spiritual strength looks like. “We crib about tiny inconveniences — no Wi-Fi, power cuts, a delayed order. And here is a man with no legs, no complaints, no excuses. Just purpose.”
Locals gathered around him later that evening, offering warm food and woolen blankets. But Babaji asked for nothing. He set up his tent quietly by the riverbank, cooked a modest meal and prepared for the next stretch of his pilgrimage.
His story is not one of pity, but power. No fundraisers. No media team. Just faith on his back and fire in his soul.
He is not walking for money, not for fame. He walks for those who feel they can’t. For those teetering on the edge of despair. For those who have forgotten that life — even with all its pain — is still worth holding onto.
And in doing so, Babaji has become something rare in today’s world: a walking prayer.
Let us not forget: sometimes, it takes a man with no legs to remind us how to stand tall, shared Sood, with choked voice.
