On December 2, Mumbai resident Mona Joshi went shopping for a ghagra at Kalki Fashion in Santacruz, but was told by a salesperson that they had nothing available in her size.
She asked what women her size were supposed to do, and a sales rep allegedly responded, "Go to the gym."
Shresht Poddar, a friend of Joshi’s who was with her at the time, reported the incident to the owner of Kalki Fashion via email.
"The purpose is NOT to defame a brand. The owner cannot be held responsible for a momentary action of an employee. It is to share awareness about fat shaming and much-needed politeness and basic decency among people," Poddar told BuzzFeed.
"I felt a little angry for leaving that store without showing my discomfort with that comment because I knew that the man did not register that what he said was wrong, and that he would say something like that again to another girl," Joshi added.
Friends of Joshi also reported the incident on Kalki Fashion's Facebook page.
Director of Kalki Fashion, Shishir Gupta, replied to the post on December 3, apologising for what happened.
"Body image issues crop up because of such body shaming, from strangers and sometimes from loved ones too. It is your responsibility to speak up, not standing up against injustice is as wrong as doing it," she added.
"I went to the store and they were apologetic for what had happened. The store manager and owner were there. They had already spoken to the sales person even before I got there. The good thing about this whole incident was that after receiving Shresht's email, the owner not only apologized for what happened, he took it upon himself to right the wrong that was done. Body image issues crop up because of such body shaming, from strangers and sometimes from loved ones too. It is your responsibility to speak up, not standing up against injustice is as wrong as doing it," Joshi added.