Most of us barely look up when a delivery person hands over a parcel. We take the package, say thanks if we remember, and get on with our evening. But in a reel shared on Instagram by Dr. Shivangi Joshi, one ordinary delivery turned into a moment she says she’ll never forget. The CCTV video shows her working in her household, and a fire breaking out in her kitchen. She says the delivery person who’d come to drop off a parcel stepped in to help without a second thought. His act of kindness has since struck a chord with millions online.
According to her caption, the delivery person had come to her house to drop off a parcel the previous night. Then the kitchen caught fire. She writes that he didn’t hesitate or stand back, and instead came into her kitchen and helped her, right when she needed someone. She doesn’t name him in the post, and it doesn’t make a big drama of what happened, but you can feel how deeply the moment affected her from the way she writes about it. “He just came in and helped.” What seems to have stayed with her most is how instinctive it was. She describes someone who acted without stopping to think about whether it was his job, whether he’d be in the way or whether it was safe to step in.
Dr. Shivangi Joshi goes on to say something that many readers will recognise. We often judge people by how they look, what they do for a living or what kind of work they do, she writes, but a profession doesn’t decide how much courage or kindness someone has. She says he treated her as a fellow human being, and that she may not have perfect words to thank him but will always remember what he did. Her line, “Some people deliver parcels. Some people deliver hope when you need it the most,” is the one many people are sharing.
Delivery workers are among the most visible and least noticed people in our daily lives. They arrive at our doors in every kind of weather, and most of us know them only as a name on an app and a knock on the door. Stories like this one remind us that the person behind that knock is a human being too. Dr. Joshi has asked people to share the post so that more people hear it, and her message is simple: heroes don’t always look the way we expect.
This story is also a critical reminder to be prepared for emergencies at home. If a fire starts in your kitchen, try to stay calm, switch off the gas at the regulator if it’s safe to do so, and never pour water on an oil or grease fire, since that can make it spread. Smother it with a lid or use a fire blanket or extinguisher if you have one. If the fire grows, get everyone out, and call the fire services on 101 or the emergency number 112 immediately.