I was sorting through photos that I took in India back in January and this image stood out for me.

As I was meandering along the ghats in Varanasi, taking in all of the sights, sounds and smells of this intensely vibrant area along the Ganges River, I came upon this man. I was told by his “agent” that his name was Babaji and that he was in the Guinness World Records for having the longest hair in the world - all nicely tucked underneath his turban.

For a small price, I could take photos. I’ve never paid someone for their photo before but I knew I would regret not having a snapshot of this unique individual. For less than 100 rupees (no more than $2 U.S.), I spent a few minutes snapping away.

I took still photos using my video camera because that’s the camera that I had handy and I didn’t want to be fumbling in my bag for my little digital camera while he stood there so stoically. (I don’t know why I was feeling self-conscious, he wasn’t going anywhere.) Ironically, less than a week later, I lost all of the images on my digital camera’s SD card and the photos on my video camera were all that I had from the first of four weeks in India. (I learned my lesson and now back up my photos daily.)

Whether he’s really in the Guinness World Records or not (I couldn’t find any information on him) and whether his name was really Babaji (though there are several online references to a Babaji “saint”, I don’t think of any of them were this lovely gentleman) doesn’t matter. He was definitely one of the most interesting characters I stumbled upon in my travels and I’ll never forget him.

Travel Well!

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