Viral video: Young Army aspirant's midnight run in Noida wins internet

PTI

Noida, March 21

A video of a 19-year-old boy running from his workplace to his home 10 km away in the middle of the night to keep himself fit to join the Army has won huge appreciation on social media.

After the video of Almora resident Pradeep Mehra, shot by a journalist-cum-filmmaker Vinod Kapri, surfaced on social media, several former Army officers and others have pitched in to help the teenager realise his dream.

In the video, Pradeep is seen running on a city road around midnight with a small bag flung across his shoulder and a mobile phone in his hand.

When offered a ride to his home in a car, Pradeep declines the help and says he runs around 10 km every night from Sector 16 (workplace) to his home in Barola here to train himself physically to join the Army.

This is PURE GOLD❤️❤️

नोएडा की सड़क पर कल रात 12 बजे मुझे ये लड़का कंधे पर बैग टांगें बहुत तेज़ दौड़ता नज़र आया

मैंने सोचा
किसी परेशानी में होगा , लिफ़्ट देनी चाहिए

बार बार लिफ़्ट का ऑफ़र किया पर इसने मना कर दिया

वजह सुनेंगे तो आपको इस बच्चे से प्यार हो जाएगा ❤️😊 pic.twitter.com/kjBcLS5CQu

— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) March 20, 2022

Asked why is he running, Pradeep says “To join Army”.

“In the morning, I have to go to work and cook food,” he purportedly says in the video, adding his mother is hospitalised in Almora while he stays in Noida with his elder brother, who works during night shifts in a company.

When the filmmaker told him the video clip would go viral, Pradeep responded, “Who is going to recognise?” “In any case, I am not doing anything wrong,” he added.

The clip shared on Twitter by Kapri on Sunday evening got over 75,000 retweets, 11,000 quotes tweets and nearly 2.50 lakh likes. The clip has since been shared by several other people, including celebrities, on various social media.

Kapri tweeted in Hindi, “Last night at 12 o’clock on a Noida road, I saw this boy running very fast with a bag on his shoulder. I thought he was in some trouble and hence offered him a ride. I offered him a lift repeatedly but he declined. The reason would make you fall in love with this child.”

As the post went viral, several social media users offered financial support to Pradeep, while many were overwhelmed by his efforts.

Lt General Satish Dua (retd) tweeted, “His Josh is commendable, and to help him pass the recruitment tests on his merit, I’ve interacted with Colonel of KUMAON Regiment, Lt Gen Rana Kalita, the Eastern Army Commander. He is doing the needful to train the boy for recruitment into his Regiment. Jai Hind.”

Major (retired) D P Singh tweeted, “Surprisingly happy to see Generals pitching in to help “#PradeepMehra after @vinodkapri made the boy’s passionate video. I would also urge them to help thousands of others like him working hard/er across India, Covid has delayed recruitment rallies.”

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