Cylinderman: How gas agency employee from Maharashtra’s Ambernath set Internet on fire

A gas cylinder delivery staffer from Ambernath has become an internet sensation overnight, thanks to a media professional who posted the 29 year old’s random photo, exhibiting his muscular physique, on social media

A gas cylinder delivery staffer from Ambernath has become an internet sensation overnight, thanks to a media professional who posted the 29 year old’s random photo, exhibiting his muscular physique, on social media.

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On the morning of June 26, Sagar Jadhav was standing beside his agency’s cylinder carrier truck while his colleague made a delivery near Ambernath railway station, when Tushar Bhamre, 35, a media professional spotted him. Bhamre, also an Ambernath resident, was seated in his car, while his wife was buying groceries.

“Jadhav was leaning against the truck, lost in thought, and I thought it made for a very nice picture. So I clicked a few photos and posted one on Facebook, with a caption saying that this could be a still out of a web series. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but by afternoon, the post had received scores of comments and shares,” said Bhamre.

Bhamre’s post received 351 likes, 151 comments and 71 shares. The morning after he posted it, several other social media users had obtained the picture from Bhamre and posted it on their own social media pages. Artists made Jadhav’s caricature and posted it on Instagram, with someone coming up with #cylinderman. By Monday, Instagram fitness accounts like Six Pack Abs India had also picked up the picture.

“I came home from work on June 26 and went off to sleep, not knowing what was brewing. I only learned about it later after a friend called me up. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it at first,” Jadhav recalled.

Using Facebook, Bhamre found a few users mutual friends and got in touch with Jadhav on Sunday.

“The first thing I did was to apologise to him for posting the picture without his consent. We both expressed the desire to meet each other and that same evening, he visited my house. We spoke for a long time,” said Bhamre.

Orphaned at childhood, Jadhav is a shy personality and protective of his personal life. His elder brother also works for the same liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) retail agency. Jadhav got married two-and-a-half years ago.

Jadhav has been working for a gas retail agency since his teenage years.

When he started working, he was a skinny young man with scant interest in fitness. However, as years progressed, he started feeling the need to increase his strength and stamina to suit the demands of his job.

“An empty LPG cylinder weighs 15 kilogrammes (kg), while a fully-filled one weighs 30kg. When I started my job, my weight used to be 45kg, and not all the buildings where we deliver cylinders have lifts, which means sometimes we have to climb three-four storeys with the cylinder on our shoulders. This drove me to visit a newly opened gym in my locality four years ago,” said Jadhav.

That one visit to the gym changed Jadhav’s life forever. He started working out regularly, and makes it a point now to hit the gym six days a week for at least an hour daily.

“I can’t afford supplements or fancy diet plans. My diet consists entirely of home-cooked food. I don’t even have a personal trainer. I only perform the basic exercises that I had learned when I first joined the gym. The change that exercising has brought about in my strength and stamina is all the motivation I need to keep going on,” he said.

Social media users are already hoping that Jadhav, with his looks and physique, lands a role in a movie or a web series. On Monday, Jadhav’s picture was posted by Marathi actor Kushal Badrike on his Facebook page.

“I have assured Jadhav that I will guide him to the best of my capabilities if he gets an offer. I have worked in the media industry for several years now and would be happy if my experience is of some use to him,” said Bhamre.

Jadhav, on his part, said he will take each day as it comes.

“For now, I am going to stick to my workout regimen and advice everyone to work out. It is never a bad idea to start working out and get in shape. Apart from a good physique and stamina, it also helps build immunity, which has become all the more important amid the pandemic,” he said.