Every morning, Sesappanna drives his Toyota Fortuner to BC Road in Bantwal, Karnataka. He parks the SUV, steps out and picks up a broom. For nearly three decades, that has been his routine. The only thing that has changed is the vehicle he arrives in. Sesappanna, a civic sanitation worker from Navoor in Bantwal, has recently drawn attention online after videos of him driving a Fortuner to work went viral.The sight is something that makes people stop and look, but behind the Fortuner is a much longer story- one that began with a daily wage of just rupees 50.
Sesappanna parks his Fortuner before beginning his sanitation duties. (Photo: Daijiworld Television)
From Rs 50 a day to a permanent job
According to the report published in Asianet News Kannada, Sesappanna joined the Bantwal Town Municipal Council in 1996. At the time, he earned Rs 50 a day and had studied only up to Class 3. His early years were difficult. There were periods when even arranging enough food for the family was a struggle. At one point, he also battled alcoholism.A turning point came in 2005, when then Bantwal police station Sub-Inspector K U Belliyappa, who is now a deputy superintendent of police in Udupi, advised him to give up drinking and concentrate on his work and family.Sesappanna followed the advice. He stopped drinking and began rebuilding his life around work and his family. Over the years, his municipal job became permanent. His duties were not limited to sweeping roads. He has also driven the civic body’s waste-disposal vehicle and taken on other responsibilities when required.
Sesappanna’s journey has drawn attention online. (Photo: Daijiworld Television)
Sesappanna begins work around 5am and continues until noon, carrying out sanitation duties around BC Road. After finishing his municipal work, he turns to other sources of income.The Fortuner, therefore, did not appear overnight. Before the SUV, there were several other cars.According to a report in Cartoq, Sesappanna’s interest in cars began with modest models. He has owned a Maruti 800, Omni, Alto, Ritz and Scorpio. Each time, he upgraded by selling his existing vehicle and, when necessary, taking a loan. His latest upgrade was a used Toyota Fortuner.Sesappanna sold his Alto and Scorpio and combined the proceeds with borrowing to purchase the second-hand SUV. The vehicle has since become the unexpected centrepiece of his story, as per Cartoq report.
There was a time he could not afford his father’s funeral
Perhaps the most striking part of Sesappanna’s story has little to do with the Fortuner. When his father died, he did not have enough money to conduct the last rites. With little help available, he carried his father’s body himself to the banks of the Netravati river and performed the funeral. That memory has stayed with him.His journey since then appears to have been about more than simply buying better cars. It has been about building the kind of financial stability his family did not have when he was growing up.Today, Sesappanna lives with his wife, two daughters and son, and has set his sights on building a new house for his family.Sesappanna has made it clear that he does not see sanitation work as something beneath him. Whether he arrives in a Fortuner or in a more modest vehicle, the job remains the same.His story has sparked considerable appreciation online, with commenters praising him for his hard work and saying that the car is well deserved. One user wrote, “Well deserved, the job has a huge risk for infections and diseases,” one other wrote, “He earned it.”Sesappanna’s journey from a Rs 50-a-day municipal worker to a permanent employee, dairy farmer and Fortuner owner is less about the price of the car than what it represents: decades of work, setbacks, second chances and a determination to give his family a more secure life.
