N. Velumani (45) is keeping alive the taste of “Bombay mittai”, a pasty candy made of sugar syrup that could be stretched out.
He looks to one of the very few who were still making and selling the candy which has lost its market share with the advent of branded chocolates.
Mr. Velumani was into this business for the past two decades.
“Though demand might have come down, I am sticking to the trade. Of course, the going is tough, so I have to work extra hard to make out a living selling the candy by finding new areas where demand will be there.
“For that, I try to travel mostly to different semi-urban and rural areas and sometimes to urban localities too where the children might not have heard or seen this candy much. They will then buy the candy mostly out of curiosity of seeing the pasty candy brought on a stick been made into the shapes of animals and flowers in front of them. This innovative market penetration is keeping my business going”, Mr .Velumani said. He sells the candy in various sizes for a unit price of Rs. 5 to Rs. 15.
On how he got attached to the sales, “I have been doing some casual labour 20 years back. During that time, I happened to travel to a place near Mysuru 20 years ago where I came across a person who prepares this candy and learned the tricks from him”, he said. On very lucrative business days, he makes profit of around Rs. 1,000.
