Hard work, determination, and ambition are all that come to mind when we talk of the new India. The 19-year-old Pradeep Mehra is all about it. In a viral video posted by filmmaker Vinod Kapri, this wonder boy is seen running on an empty road in Noida at midnight. When Vinod offered the boy a ride back to his home, he declines his offer and says that it was part of his routine practice as he plans to join the Indian Army.
Pradeep tells Kapri that he is from Uttarakhand’s Almora and that he was running home from work after finishing his shift at McDonald’s. He further adds he runs at night because in the morning he has to wake up early for duty and cook food.
Watch the video here:
🔲 #Watch | 19-year-old declines filmmaker Vinod Kapri's offer for a ride home; the reason will amaze you#Army #IndianArmy
Video credits: @vinodkapri pic.twitter.com/wWEhSHhv7n
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) March 20, 2022
Within hours, the video shared by Kapri went viral on social media and netizens started praising Pradeep’s determination. From political personalities to sports icons, all started reacting to Pradeep Mehra’s mid-night run:
Digvijay Singh in a tweet appealed to the Defense Minister to enroll Pradeep in the armed forces without a test just because of his commitment towards his goal. He also tagged PM Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in his tweet.
वाक़ई में ग़ज़ब का लड़का है। इसकी फ़ौज में भर्ती होने की प्रतिबद्धता को देखते हुए रक्षा मंत्री जी इसे बिना किसी इम्तिहान व साक्षात्कार के फ़ौज में भर्ती कर लेना चाहिए।@narendramodi @rajnathsingh https://t.co/BdHsyyybQo
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) March 21, 2022
Other politicians like Manish Sisodiya, Dharmendra Pradhan, Harish Rawat were fascinated by his determination and were in complete awe of his efforts to achieve his goals in life.
अनगिनत बार देख कर भी मन नही भर रहा है
इतनी साफ़गोई और ख़ुद्दारी महज़ 19 साल की उम्र में
मेरी तो बिसात ही क्या, बड़े बड़े IAS, राजनेता भी शायद छोटा महसूस करे इस बच्चे के जज़्बे ओर लगन के आगे
जियो मेरे चीते
बस यही दुआ है ऊपर वाले से आपके सारे सपने पूरे होhttps://t.co/cCRnPrKYIv— Manish Sisodiya (@manish_sisodiya) March 20, 2022
लहरों से डर कर नौका पार नहीं होती
कोशिश करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।Pradeep Mehra’s sense of purpose, passion and tough grind represents the indomitable spirit and can-do-attitude of young India. He has also shown people how to live their dream. Wishing Pradeep the very best. https://t.co/AdAUM2meQG
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) March 21, 2022
देवभूमि उत्तराखंड के अल्मोड़ा जिले के लाल #PradeepMehra (19 वर्ष) की जुबानी उसकी कहानी आपके साथ साझा कर रहा हूं।
बेटा प्रदीप #नोएडा में किसी कंपनी में जॉब करता है और जहां जॉब करता है वहां से अपने कमरे तक दौड़ते हुए जाता है,
1/2 pic.twitter.com/hahyPexrS4— Harish Rawat (@harishrawatcmuk) March 20, 2022
Actor Manoj Bajpayee and cricketer Harbhajan Singh couldn’t hold back their appreciation for the boy.
Salute to sheer resolve & determination!!! 👏👏👏👏👏🙏
— manoj bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) March 21, 2022
👌👌👌👌 champions are made like this .. whether on sports field or anything they do in life .. He will be a winner ✅thank you vinod for sharing this .. yes PURE GOLD 🙌 https://t.co/2tzc28nbNu
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) March 20, 2022
Ranjit Bajaj, the owner of Minerva Academy offered free training to the boy for the armed forces.
We wud love to offer him free training at India’s best armed forces training acadmey @Academy_Minerva @minervapunjabfc any contact details ??😊✊🏽🇮🇳❤️
— Ranjit Bajaj (@THE_RanjitBajaj) March 21, 2022
Retd. Army General Lt.Gen. Satish Dua took to tweeted that he had a conversation with Lt. General Rana Kalita who has agreed to train him and further recruit him in his regiment.
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 🇮🇳 https://t.co/iasbkQvvII— Lt Gen Satish Dua 🇮🇳 (@TheSatishDua) March 21, 2022
After the overwhelming reactions and love showered at the boy from all corners of the country, Vinod Kapri went back to inform him about everything and his reaction is all you need to make your day complete.
#PradeepMehra ( स्कूल रिकॉर्ड में पुष्कर मेहरा ) से अभी 11 बजे पूरा काम करने के बाद @McDonalds में मुलाक़ात हुई।
उसे बता दिया गया है कि देश उसे कितना प्यार दे रहा है। एक बर्गर तो बनता है ❤️ https://t.co/Qf65Eql5Au pic.twitter.com/WOD3DTLjvg
— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) March 20, 2022