A woman recently experienced an unforgettable moment midflight when she discovered that the person seated nearby was none other than renowned physicist and author of the widely celebrated textbook Concept of Physics, Harish Chandra Verma.
(Also read: Internet celebrates as popular physicist, textbook author HC Verma conferred Padma Shri award)
Shilpa Trivedi captured the serendipitous encounter in a short Instagram video, writing, “Realised midair that we have a legend travelling with us.” She further captioned the clip, “Knowledgeable professor HC Verma Sir... so happy to meet him... simplicity, so much to learn...” The video shows a calm and humble Professor Verma seated on the flight.
In the same clip, Trivedi shared a photograph with the legendary physicist along with a touching handwritten note he gave her. The note read, “Shilpa ji, aapne mujhe itne varsho tak yaad rakha, aapka aabhar hai,” which translates to, “Shilpa ji, I’m grateful that you remembered me even after so many years.”
Take a look here at the clip:
{{/usCountry}}Take a look here at the clip:
{{/usCountry}}Speaking with HT.com, Trivedi confirmed that the video was taken on 1st October 2025 during her flight from Kanpur to Mumbai. Since being posted, the heartwarming clip has garnered over 1.2 million views, with many users expressing admiration and nostalgia.
Internet showers love
The video quickly drew an emotional wave of comments. One user fondly remarked, “The man who made us fall in love with physics — a childhood icon.” Another wrote, “He helped me a lot to achieve my dream of getting into IIT Delhi.”
Several others shared heartfelt messages, calling him a “legendary HC Verma sir” and “the man who raised an entire generation without even realising what he contributed.” One person commented, “Was solving HCV, thought to take a break, and this is the first reel I saw — God, I so want to meet him once.” Another user added, “That note… it’s so cute.”