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"No one should be looked down upon or judged by the clothes they wear," said Kempe Gowda, a farmer from Karnataka’s Tumakuru who made news with his movie-style comeback to the purported taunts against his appearance. Speaking to the media, he said that the reason for his protest was to prevent such an experience for others in the future.
Last week, Kempe Gowda and a group of friends and relatives had gone to a Mahindra car showroom in Tumakuru to buy a pick-up truck. However, they were reportedly sneered at by the employees of the showroom, who claimed that they looked as if they did not have Rs 10, let alone Rs 10 lakh for the pick-up truck, based on their clothes. One of the employees even said that they would deliver the pick-up truck on the same day if the farmers brought Rs 10 lakh in 30 minutes. While the group kept up their end of the deal, the employees were unable to due to the waiting list, which resulted in a row. Videos of the incident were shared widely on social media, with many applauding Kempe Gowda and his friends for their stand.
Business tycoon and Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra himself reacted to the incident and apologised. The staff members also went to Kempe Gowda’s house and apologised, and also invited him to buy a Bolero pick-up vehicle. "The showroom staff had come to my house and apologised. They invited me to buy the vehicle. I happily got the vehicle delivered. I paid Rs 9.4 lakh. They didn't give any concession and I also didn't ask for a discount," Kempe Gowda said. The pick-up truck was delivered to him on Friday, January 28.
On the same day, Mahindra Automotive said on Twitter, "We regret the inconvenience caused to Kempe Gowda and his friends during their visit to our dealership on January 21. As promised we have taken appropriate measures and the matter is now resolved. We would like to thank Kempe Gowda for choosing to be with us and we welcome him into the Mahindra family." Anand Mahindra retweeted the statement and said, "Let me add my welcome to Kempe Gowda.."
Mahindra Car showroom salesman taunted a farmer aftr seeing his attire when he visited showroom to buy Bolero Pik-up. Farmer Kempegowda alleged field officer of showroom made fun of farmer & his attire, told him tat car is not worth 10 rupees for him to buy. @anandmahindra pic.twitter.com/9fXbc5naY7
— Sagay Raj P || ಸಗಾಯ್ ರಾಜ್ ಪಿ (@sagayrajp) January 23, 2022
At the time of the incident, when the farmers had brought Rs 10 lakh but did not get the pick-up truck on the same day, a police complaint with the showroom employees’ written apology was lodged. However, the farmers decided to keep their money on that day, and walked away with Rs 10 lakh in hand.