This story of Indian King Jai Singh, Maharaja of Alwar (Rajasthan) is one of the bizarre stories you will come across in the Indian history.
In 1920, King Jai Singh visited London and was walking in his casual appearance in Bond Street. The king came across the Rolls Royce showroom in the bond street and he decided to pay a visit to question about the price and specifications of the Rolls Royce car.
The British showroom salesman humiliated the King by judging on his appearance and he ill treated King Jai Singh. Considering the king as just another poor Indian Citizen, the salesman almost showed him the way out with out any respect. After this insult, King Jai Singh returned to his Hotel room and asked his servants to call the showroom that King of Alwar city is occupied with acquiring their few Cars.
The red carpet were rolled out in the showroom and the all the salesmen in the showroom were lined up to honor the king’s visit. After a couple of hours the king visited the showroom with his royal manner and appearance. The king decided to purchase all the six cars which were present at that time and he paid in full including the delivery costs.
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After all six Rolls Royce car reached India, the king ordered the Municipality to use all these six cars for the purpose of transporting and collecting the garbage in the city. Then world number one car manufacturer Rolls Royce were baffled when the news of Indian king using their car as garbage van spread the world in matter of no time. Hence the reputation of Rolls Royce dropped rapidly all over the world.
When one used to pride about owning a Rolls Royce car, people started humiliating ” Oh, the same car used in India for garbage collection?”. This was massive insult for the Rolls Royce and revenue was dropping rapidly.
Finally, they sent a telegram to the Indian King Jai Singh apologizing for their behavior whilst he visited the showroom in London and also they offered him six more Rolls Royce for free of cost. The king accepted their apologies and stopped using the cars for garbage collection.
” it has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings ” – Mahatma Gandhi
