Last night, filmmaker Vinod Kapri uploaded a video of a 19-year-old man, Pradeep Mehra, running from his workplace in Noida to his home in Barola. In the video, Pradeep says that he does this every night because he wants to clear the Army entrance and this is his only chance to get some practice.

The video soon blew up as people appreciated the determination of Pradeep, and that is legitimate. However, what many forgot to discuss is the struggle in its entirety. 

These incidents are more than just a reminder of the fact that persistence exists. They should also ideally start a conversation about the inequality where some people have all the resources at their disposal while others have to show up for their full-time jobs and then work for their dreams to get any chance at living the life they have imagined. 

The latter seems to be a lost cause at the moment because media houses have already started monetising the struggle of Pradeep. For instance, here is a news channel making him run inside their studio for clout.

What exactly does this accomplish apart from getting the channel footage they can run while they ask him questions about how he is reacting to his “celebrity status”?

To be honest, some questions did highlight Pradeep’s hardships, but it’s hard to trust the intention of the media in this case because of the reasons that are abundantly clear.

For shame.