Picture: Screenshot.
It’s any parent’s nightmare to be in public when their child is having a meltdown. However, being thousands of miles in the air on a vessel that won’t touch the ground for five more hours makes matters increasingly worse.
Fortunately for one father whose son began having mid-flight tears en route to Albania from Dubai, he had an entire plane full of passengers eager to entertain the unhappy toddler with a singing session.
@parikshitbalochi baby Shark! #fyp #flydubai #foryoupage #babyshark #dubai ♬ One Night in Dubai - Arash
The sweet moment was captured in a video shared to TikTok by Parikshit Balochi, a 33-year-old presenter for a Bollywood radio station in Dubai.
With more than eight million views and thousands of comments, the gesture has gone viral, touching the hearts of people all over.
In an interview with Insider, Balochi shared that it all started when the child seated next to him, who appeared to be around four years old, began crying just before take-off.
In response, a passenger in the row of seats behind them began quietly whispering the lyrics to "Baby Shark," so he decided to do the same in a bid to soothe the child.
The hit song made a splash in 2018, landing a spot very few children’s songs manage to secure on the Billboard Hot 100. The earworm of a jam featured on ’The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ and ’The Late Late Show with James Corden’ has been remixed thousands of times and made into many a viral meme. So, it’s no surprise it’s everyone’s go-to bop for cheering up a crying child.
"I've got no shame because I do public speaking as a radio host. So I started singing out loud and everybody joined in," he said to Insider. On the video, Balochi had added an on-screen caption that said, "Baby shark to the rescue," and "Crying baby on the plane? No problem!"
Balochi shared the clips on his Instagram account and on TikTok before turning off his phone for the flight.
He said that when he got off the plane, there were 120 TikTok notifications and a ridiculous number of views.
“I really did not expect it to blow up," he said.