Saw & copied

High-end storeowners were nonplussed when we spoke to them regarding the matter. Sandeep Sirsat,staff,Fab India at Ishanya Mall,says,“We have heard about this practice. And because we usually try to keep it basic and simple,it becomes easy for carpenters to copy it. And it is sad yet true that we cannot check this. Yet they cannot copy the quality. We have also seen that apart from local carpenters,our rivals also copy our product.” But not everyone feels so utterly defenseless. Raj Bahadur,store incharge,Good Home store,says,“To check this we have prohibited any kind of photography,however,that will not check the problem completely. Most of the customers come here for ideas. And it is,in a way justified as well,because not everybody comes with a huge budget. However,this does take a toll on our business”

The wholesale shop owners,on their part,indirectly blamed the customers and the sky-high prices set for imported furnishings by malls. Rizwan Khan,who works for Designo Furnitures,Bajirao Road,explaines,“We are only doing our job as it is the customers who come to us and ask us for carpenters who can accompany them to malls to analyze display patterns and then try to implement those same designs while making sets and pieces,as per the customers’ demands. But we try as much as possible not to charge extra for this effort unless the labour and capital required proves to be too excessive”.

Even though it comes across as unfair to the suffering party concerned,this exercise hasn’t been declared as illegal by the law. Atul Angal,unit head,Home Town,was sure of copy-proof design by the store. He says,“Sad but true that our designs is being copied,however,our only saviour is technology. The beauty of our furniture is the curves,which is not exactly possible for local carpenters to copy. The kind of study and research that is taken up here before producing one piece of furniture is not possible. And even if they fool the people,it will not come out good. We can’t do much about this.”

Prabhavati Jana,owner,Balai furnitures,justifies the trend by saying that they are just trying to fulfill customers demand. “Getting inspiration is not bad. Everybody has the right to think and get the best in minimum price so customers turn to us for that and we are happy serving them. Though we know that exact replication might not be possible,but we try to meet customers’ expectation as accurately as possible,” says Jana.