What happened: Dipa Karmakar has decided to return her BMW back to the car’s original owner.

Who is involved: Dipa Karmakar, Sachin Tendulkar, her coach Bisheswar Nandi, and the car’s original owner V Chamundeswaranath.

When did it take place: 12th October 2016

Where did it take place: Agartala, Tripura, India

Why did that happen:

It all began when Sachin Tendulkar decided to hand over the keys of a swanky new BMW X1 to Dipa Karmakar when she finished fourth in gymnastics at the 2016 Rio Olympics where she was the first female gymnast from India in over fifty years to have attained this feat. The car was gifted to her by V Chamundeswaranath, who is the President of the Hyderabad Badminton Association. Dipa’s father said that the city of Agartala doesn’t have the right kind of infrastructure to support a BMW – the roads, in particular, aren’t that well maintained to support a car of that stature.

He also mentioned that the city doesn’t have drivers who are capable of driving a BMW and that the company does not have a showroom or a service center in the entire state of Tripura which makes owning a BMW a big headache if anything goes wrong with the car. The decision to return the car was taken by Dipa, her family, and her coach. Gifting her the car was definitely a kind gesture but the decision she has taken also makes perfect sense from her point of view. Owning a car is only half the story – there are other costs to it as well, maintenance, fuel, etc. If the state she is living in doesn’t have a service center or a showroom, getting help to repair the car in cases of any breakdown will be a difficult process for her. The owner has suggested that he can replace her car with another one or transfer money worth the car’s price to her account.