At seven in the evening, in a room bathed in darkness, there was a 70-year-old man packing candles which were to be sent to flood relief centres. He was helped by his wife; she sorted the candles according to size, wrapped them in covers, and arranged them in a box. Working tirelessly, the elderly couple, with the help of eight others from Chrompet, have managed to produce more than 50,000 candles in a week.
A.V. Giri and his wife Kanahalakshmi have been running Dhanalakshmi Candle Works since 1972. Candles are made with the help of a semi-automatic machine that shapes the wax, while the rest of the process is manual. “Candles were one of the products that people used to stock at home regularly to use when power was irregular. But now, inverters, torches and cell phone flash lights have become the light source during power cuts. The candle business was dull for the last three years. We got only a handful of orders from shops during Deepavali, Karthigai Deepam and Christmas,” says Giri.
Last week, the demand went up by leaps and bounds and they went out of stock in just a few hours. With a limited supply, each piece was sold for Rs. 25. “It was a tough week. We had insufficient raw material. The wax storage factory at Madhavaram was water-logged and we were not able to receive the materials on time because of road blocks. With the help of youngsters in and around Chrompet, we received the materials. We worked day and night and we had no power at home. The candles were our only source of light. We realised the need for light in every house that was struggling,” he explains.
“We reside near Tambaram-Mudichur and were deeply worried about the situation in our locality. The volunteers planned to give a candle packet to every house in Tambaram. We are happy to be a part of it,” says Kanahalakshmi.
Benny, a volunteer, says, “We requested that 500 candles be sent to a relief centre at Madipakkam. The area had no power for more than five days. They managed to get them ready within a night. Unlike other places, they offered the candles with a concession.”
Giri says it was very disappointing when he came to know that the candles were sold at higher costs at a time of necessity. “We have been waiting for orders all the time before the flood relief. But when this is the time to help and contribute, money doesn’t have a place here. It is not fair to sell the candles at higher prices. How can we act selfish in this? We have also received an order to manufacture 50,000 plus candles in the following week,” he says.
