'What a guy': Kevin Pietersen, Harbhajan Singh bowled over by Vinod Kapri video of teen army aspirant's midnight run

Pradeep Mehra, 19, dreams of joining the army. (Image credit: Screengrab from video tweeted by @vinodkapri)

The video of a 19-year-old in Noida near Delhi, sprinting back home after work at a local McDonald’s outlet has won over the internet, with tens of thousands of people showing love and praises on him.

A 2:20-minute clip, that shows Pradeep Mehra running as filmmaker Vinod Kapri talks to him from his vehicle, is among the most-watched videos in recent times, garnering over seven million views and over two lakh “likes” on Twitter alone. The teenager provided the much-needed ‘Monday motivation’ to the internet.

The video has reached far and wide, with former England cricketer Kevin Pieterson tweeting, “This will make your Monday morning! What a guy.”

“Champions are made like this, whether on sports field or anything they do in life,” former cricketer Harbhajan Singh tweeted. “He will be a winner. Thank you, Vinod, for sharing this. Yes, pure gold.”

Industrialist Anand Mahindra, known to have an eye for viral videos, termed Mehra as “aatmanirbhar” or self-sufficient.

This is indeed inspiring. But you know what my #MondayMotivation is? The fact that he is so independent & refuses the offer of a ride. He doesn’t need help. He is Aatmanirbhar! https://t.co/8H1BV4v5Mr

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 21, 2022

“This is indeed inspiring. But you know what my #MondayMotivation is? The fact that he is so independent & refuses the offer of a ride. He doesn’t need help. He is Aatmanirbhar,” Mahindra tweeted.

Kapri shared the video of Mehra who was running home at midnight on Saturday. When he spotted him running with a backpack, Kapri offered the young man a lift but he refused, saying he always runs home from work. When Kapri asked him where he worked, the man said “McDonald’s Sector-16”.

Mehra told Kapri that his home was 10 kilometres away from his workplace. When asked why he does not run in the mornings, the 19-year-old said he has to cook before leaving for an 8 am shift.

Kapri asked the man why he ran. “Army ke liye (to join the army)”, he said in response.

Mehra, who is from Uttarakhand’s Almora stays with his elder brother. His mother was in hospital. Kapri asked the man when he will have dinner. “I will go home and cook,” he said, after which Kapri offered to take him to have dinner at his house.

But the young man refused, saying that his elder brother would have to go hungry if he did not cook. “Why can’t your elder brother cook”? Kapri asked. In response, the man said he was at work for a night shift.

Before going his way, Kapri again offered the man a lift. “It will disrupt my running routine,” the 19-year-old said.

The young man's prospects to join the army already seem bright. A prominent Punjab-based academy has offered him free training.

Ranjeet Bajaj, the owner of Minerva Academy, sought the man's contact details from Kapri. "So nice of you, sharing details soon on DM," the filmmaker said in response.