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Indian-origin techie’s post on parents’ first flight goes viral
The video documents the couple’s first flight and their arrival in Britain after a lifetime spent in their village.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 13, Nov 2025
- 12:38 EST
- 26
Sanjeeva Reddy Thalla with his parents / Instagram/@sanjeeva_thalla
Indian-origin programmer Sanjeeva Reddy Thalla drew widespread attention online after sharing a deeply personal account of his parents’ first journey out of their village in Telangana — a trip that took them directly from rural India to his home in the United Kingdom.
In a video posted on Instagram, Thalla documented the moment his parents boarded an aircraft for the first time and travelled beyond their state’s borders. “It was their first ever flight. It was their first time crossing our state’s border. It was their first time sitting in an aircraft. It was their first time wearing shoes,” he wrote in the caption.
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The clip opened with scenes of his parents seated in their village fields before cutting to their reunion with Thalla, his wife and their daughter in the UK. The journey, he said, took him back to his childhood in Telangana, where he wore trousers with patches and carried books in a bag stitched from a fertilizer sack.
“And now, here they are. In my home,” he wrote. He added that the moment was not about material achievement, noting that his mother still signs with her thumbprint and his father “barely signs with his name in Telugu”, and that the significance lay in being able to bring them “across continents”.
The post triggered thousands of reactions, with users calling the gesture “the best feeling in the world” and praising him for honouring his parents. Many said the video reflected the aspirations of children raised in modest circumstances who hope to one day give their parents experiences they never imagined.
Migration from states such as Telangana to the UK has risen steadily in recent years, driven largely by the technology sector. More than 1.7 million people of Indian origin now live in the UK, forming one of its most established immigrant communities and contributing significantly to its workforce and tech industries.
Thalla later posted a note of thanks, saying he was “honored and humbled” by the response. He said the moment mattered because his parents could finally relax and spend time with their granddaughter after a lifetime of hard work.
He described the reunion as his way of expressing gratitude for their sacrifices — a sentiment that resonated widely online.
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