Gifting instinct, please

The Olympics ended a long time ago, but we are still not over the excitement and pride it brought to the country. The three golden girls — Dipa Karmakar, PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik, who brought India under the limelight with their brilliant performances, were awarded generously for their hard work! Each of them was gifted a BMW by none other than the legend – Sachin Tendulkar. And now, barely two months later, Dipa is set to return the luxury car she was gifted. Often, sportspersons are presented with generous gifts for making the country proud. Cricketers like Robin Uthappa and M S Dhoni are often presented with a range of items from cash prizes to bikes and even land!

Barely missing a medal by a whisker, the gymnast who hails from the small town of Agartala in Tripura, Dipa stunned the world by attempting a difficult task and finished fourth. Although she has managed to change the opportunities for gymnastics in the country, Dipa and her family are facing a hard time trying to maintain the expensive car, according to reports. Currently, focusing on her next championship, Dipa has been advised to not worry about maintaining the expensive gift. “Although the gesture was a grand one, it would make more sense to award them with a cash amount so they could decide what they wanted to spend it on. Even cricketers are gifted stuff, but those are usually things that they can actually use in their day-today lives or can be kept as investments, as opposed to a premium car which obviously costs a lot to maintain, for somebody who hails from a middle-class background and has other priorities,” says Shaifali Jaiswal, a corporate employee and a sports enthusiast.

Agreeing with her on the maintenance front, Shahid Haq, luxury car lover opines, “These cars fall in the category of premium cars which are definitely more expensive and have higher maintenance costs. The service itself costs around `30,000 to `60,000 and if there is a breakdown or some sort of damage, it can go up to a lakh.” The sports car enthusiast continues, “For somebody who hails from a middle-class background, it is a white elephant and will burn a hole in their pocket. It will also cause more stress because of concern for scratches when vehicles bump into it, or manoeuvring the car though narrow roads. To own a luxury car, the person has to be passionate about driving it and know the vehicle inside out. Smaller sedans would definitely me more convenient for any road today, considering the congestion and terrible situation of roads.”