
The video of a young man sprinting purposefully down a Noida road at midnight has taken the internet by storm. The video that racked up thousands of views within minutes of being posted on social media Sunday evening, shows the boy soaked in sweat, and repeatedly turning down filmmaker and author Vinod Kapri's offers to give him a ride home.
Pradeep Mehra, the 19-year old in the inspiring clip, manages to progressively impress Kapri with every new piece of information he reveals about his resolve to run 10 km in the dead of night.
In the video, Kapri is filming from his car, as it rides alongside the young man, who says he's running home from work after his shift at a McDonald's. Despite being offered a lift, the boy prefers to run home because he doesn't get time to run otherwise.
When prodded further on why he's running at all at this late hour, he responds, "To join the army."
Kapri once again offers to drop the boy, telling him to run in the morning, but the boy informs him that he has no time to train then, as he has to wake up at 8 am every day to cook food before work.
Hailing from Uttarakhand, Mehra, it seems, runs a 10-km stretch daily from his job in Noida's Sector 16 to his home in Barola, where he lives with his brother.
When asked where his parents are, the boy says that his mother, who is unwell, has been hospitalised.
Kapri, still keeping pace with the boy, tells him that this clip is going to go viral.
"Who's going to recognise me?" laughs the runner in response. "If it goes viral, it's okay, it's not like I am doing anything wrong."
When informed that after Mehra's sprint back home, he still plans to cook after, Kapri offers to have dinner with him.
The boy once again politely refuses and says that his older brother will be left hungry then, adding that his brother has a night shift at work and can't cook for himself at the moment.
"Pradeep, you're amazing," responds Kapri in awe.
"Let me please drop you home," he adds, in a last-ditch attempt to change Mehra's mind.
"No no, I'll go like this, otherwise my running will get ruined. This is my everyday routine," says the determined 19-year-old, smilingly declining once again.
See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter
Tweets From @varindiamag
Nothing to see here - yet
When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.