Madan Mohan Malaviya was trying to build a good university for students to study at. But there was a lack of funds for it, so he went from town to town, met many rich people and traders to collect donations. He went to the Nizam of Hyderabad (who was then apparently the richest man in the world) to request him for funds. The Nizam was furious. "How dare you come to me for funds? And that too for a Hindu University!" He roared with anger, took off his footwear and flung it at Malaviya.
Malaviya picked up the footwear and left silently. He went directly to the marketplace and began to auction the footwear. As it was the Nizam’s footwear, many people came forward to buy it. The bids kept going up.
When the Nizam heard of this, he became uneasy. He thought it would be an insult to him if his footwear were to be bought by someone for a pittance. So he sent one of his attendants with the instruction, "Buy that footwear no matter whatever the price may be!"
Thus, Malaviya managed to sell the Nizam’s own footwear back to him, for a huge amount. He used that money to build the Banaras Hindu University.
Source-Quora
