Who doesn’t love a BMW car? Well, Gymnast Dipa Karmakar doesn’t. The athlete, who put India on global map with her stellar performance in Rio Olympic Games 2016, has requested that the BMW car gifted to her for performing well in the games should be taken back. V Chamundeswaranath, president of the Hyderabad Badminton Association, had gifted BMW cars to Dipa, Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu. Dipa will return the car to him. She has valid reasons for returning the car, which her coach shared with the media.
Dipa’s coach BS Nandi informed that the reasons for her returning the car was that Agartala, the city where she resides, has no good roads. At least, no good roads for a car like BMW. Nandi also said that the city didn’t have a service centre for BMW without which it was impossible to use the car. Dipa Karmakar and her family were also having issues with the maintenance cost.
Nandi said it was not Dipa’s decision to return the car. He said he and her family decided that it was better if she part with the car. Hyderabad badminton association has accepted her request of the return. He said that he has requested that if an amount equivalent to the value of the car is credited to Dipa’s account.
“We have spoken to the concerned authority and gladly, they have no problems with it. It was also suggested to them that if possible, they transfer the amount equivalent to the value of the car to Dipa’s bank account. And if not, we will be happy with whatever amount they decide,” he told TOI.
Dipa Karmakar became national hero when she performed surprisingly well in Rio. She missed a bronze medal by a whisker as she finished fourth in the women’s vault finals. But she created history as she was the best performing Indian ever in gymnastics.
The 23-year-old Dipa, who had become the first Indian woman gymnast to have qualified for the Olympics, scored an average of 15.066 points, a mere 0.15 less than the eventual bronze winner Giulia Steingruber (15.216) of Switzerland. She performed ‘Produnova’ vault, the most difficult maneuver in gymnastics. She got world wide recognition after that. India and the entire world gymnastics hailed her courage. Gold medalist Simone Biles also applauded her for the stupendous show.
No good roads in Agartala clearly shows the lack of basic infrastructure. This is shameful as the country is among the booming economies of the world. India have been performing badly in Olympics despite being a 1.25 billion strong country. Lack of infrastructure and facilities is attributed for the poor show of Indian athletes. India got a bronze medal and a silver medal in Rio Olympics.
