Dusshera celebrations at Anand and Anand saw the burning of effigies of three characters from the epic that is the Ramayana. But this was a burning of effigies with a difference.
Effigies of the quintessential antagonist Ravana; his brother Kumbhakarna, famed for his monstrous size and great hunger; and his warrior son Meghnad, as they inflamed, raised awareness of the importance of intellectual property rights with all three bearing labels describing key aspects of the war against piracy. Kumbhakarna was labelled “counterfeiter”, Meghnad was labelled “bad man” and Ravana displayed the label “good over evil”.
Pravin Anand surmised, “We are in a world of symbols and symbols carry a powerful message. This was a powerful symbol to describe the war against piracy.”
The burning of effigies traditionally takes place during Dussehra, a festival celebrated 20 days before Diwali. The event was conducted at the firm’s office in Noida and attended by around 170 people.
This article was published in India Business Law Journal January 2014.