A post about a IAF veteran and his pilot-daughter shared by Harsh Goenka and many others on the internet went viral and sparked a discussion on social media, with netizens claiming the story to be fake. Reacting to the now-viral story of a wheelchair-bound veteran identified as Ashok Ketkar and his daughter Bhargavi, X users claimed it was untrue and sourced from 'WhatsApp University'.
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What's the story?
When a woman named Bhargavi married against her dad's will, the parent 'disowned' her. However, destiny brought them together on a flight, where the father sat on the passenger seat and the daughter was flying the aircraft.
At the Mumbai airport, a wheelchair-bound retired IAF officer boarded a flight to Delhi when he learned that the pilot was none other than his daughter, whom he stopped speaking to five years ago.
The story was posted on X by businessman Harsh Goenka. His post read, "He had lost both legs in service, but what truly broke him was losing his daughter Bhargavi, who married against his wishes. He hadn’t spoken to her in 5 years".
More details
As the flight took off, the pilot made a heart-touching announcement. She introduced flyers to the veteran by addressing him as a "War hero". Soon, she revealed her identity to the former officer, leaving him in tears.
Ramnath Kumar/Quora
Ramnath Kumar/Quora
Ramnath Kumar/Quora
Ramnath Kumar/Quora
"Sir, the girl you cut off relations, your daughter Bhargavi is the one flying this aircraft. Baba, I followed your dream. I’m a pilot now. Please forgive me", she said before leaving the cockpit for a brief moment and walking towards her father.
"They embraced, tears flowing...Ashok Ketkar’s life had just taken off again", Goenka expressed while sharing the reunion story of the father-daughter duo on social media.
Netizens react
This post is going viral and has already gathered more than one lakh views.
"Sir, this is a very beautiful story…A story of love between a father and daughter, of dedication, respect, and pride. Such stories strengthen the bonds of relationships in our society", one reacted on the now-viral X post. "If Mani Ratnam reads this, he will give shape this story and direct a movie", read another comment.
"Mr. Goenka. A beautiful story. There is only one issue. There was no officer with this name in the IAF", a user named Chandru pointed out questioning the authenticity of the mentioned veteran. A comment shared by Prof Aseervatham Achary termed the story as "A new script by WhatsApp University!"
"Many people thinking this story is not true. Let me repeat, I was on same Flight next to Wing Commander Ashok Ketkar. Everyone was clapping...At one point Wing Commander Ashok Ketkar stood on his seat and twerked. Lot of kudos to the entire crew of WA (WhatsApp) Airlines," a user named Joy Das wrote with a pinch of sarcasm.
Grok tries to fact check Ashok Ketkar Bhargavi story
Even Grok responded on Goenka's X post and attempted to fact check the claims. "The story of Wing Commander Ashok Ketkar and his daughter Bhargavi, shared by Harsh Goenka on X, appears to be fictional", it said. "No verifiable records from the Indian Air Force or news sources confirm their existence or the flight incident. Searches on Bharat Rakshak and news archives", Grok said further.
However, FPJ cannot verify the authenticity of the described incident.
