It all started off when Tripti proposed that MADF venture into a candle-making project for the benefit of the under-privileged in the society, during one of our weekly MADF meetings. The idea was to rope in a candle-making expert and hold a free training camp for a group of people from such a strata of society in Ghaziabad and enable them to take up candle-making as a source of income. It sparked off an intense discussion, at the end of which it was decided upon to move ahead with the project.
As with every project, the stumbling blocks were aplenty. Infact, it took days of effort and discussions with the natives of Ghaziabad to even find out the target group for the project. We approached several slums with an honest intention to contribute to the betterment of their lives. But most of them did not place enough trust on the project. Some others found it extremely suspicious to find a group of youngsters organizing a free training camp and getting raw material for them, all to finally distribute every penny of the profit back to them. But finally we were successful at convincing a group of thirteen women at Pratap Vihar, 7 to 8 kms away from IMT.
In the following days, we had to hold meetings to the tune of almost once in two days to decide upon a number of matters. We needed funding for our project. We needed to know the best place to purchase our raw materials from, the kind of candles which are in demand in the market, the profit margins we might be able to make and the number of candles we need to make. Another critical issue was that we wanted to tap the huge market potential of candles prior to Diwali. The next few days answered most of these questions for us.
We visited several parts of the NCR region to find out the cheapest rates of raw materials like wax, gel wax and the like. Market research was conducted to find out the kind of candles that are much in demand. Most shopkeepers just offered to purchase from us if and only if the candles are supremely impressive and well-packed as some had their stocks full already and some were expecting imported candles from as far as China. Thus a new challenge popped up in the form of packing, as packing material including boxes were sold out in most shops due to the festive season. Also the question of whether our Chak De candle making team would be able to take on the imported candles from the land of the Great Wall, remained a question mark in our minds.
The issue of funds was resolved as the Rotary Club of Ghaziabad promised to fund Rs 20000 for our project after going through the draft. Suddenly another avenue opened up in the form of a Diwali special rotary meeting! We could put up a stall there! This was a turning point as we were also concerned about the margins we would be able to earn from selling to local shops or to famed ones like Archies.
Soon, the candle-making expert was roped in and on October 27, our project which we call ‘Sashakt’ was set rolling after the inauguration function attended by some of the Rotary members and our own S.K. Singh Sir. A tent had been propped up for our purpose at Pratap Vihar and the work started. Soon the tent was a beehive of activity with people immersing themselves in all kinds of tasks from melting the gel to designing the glass. We also caught a lot of unwanted attention in the form of spectators who were all too curious to see how candle making happens. We had to make sure that such things did not hamper our progress, at the same time ensuring that we didn’t earn their dislike. We wanted a bonding with the community; their trust, respect and love.
The first two days were days of sweet success after all our toil and we were able to make nearly 200 pieces. But the third day greeted us with a problem we never anticipated. There were a few doubting Thomases and Bindiya Naiks in our Chak De team who were already asking for the returns. We did win back some of them; but some we couldn’t. So on the third day, we were working with a reduced work force of 7 or 8 people who trusted us. By the end of the day, our total stock had increased to 570 odd candles of different varieties ranging from diyas to beer-mugs, with a total investment approximating Rs 12000! We decided that its time to hit the market with our stuff. But the next challenge was packing. We spent several days and nights at Rohan’s home, packing the candles in innovative sets, using cardboard and plastic and were soon ready for sale with candles priced at less than market rates, starting from nearly Rs 30 to jumbo-pack pieces worth Rs 600.
We put up stalls at the Rotary Diwali Meeting and two days later at IMT, both of which were great successes. We at MADF, extend our gratitude to all the Rotarians, IMT ians and professors at IMT who contributed to it. Specially, we would love to appreciate the benevolence of the rotary members who auctioned off two of our jumbo-pack pieces for a breath-taking Rs 1100 each, resulting in total revenue earnings of nearly Rs 21000. This project has been a whopping success and it would not have been possible without the help of the Rotary Club of Ghaziabad, S.K. Singh Sir and the encouragement of people like Abhishek Joshi, Mathew and others like Arun Ladha who were at the heart of the project despite even mid-term exams. (If any names have been left out its purely unintentional and I seek your pardon.) In Arun’s own words, “This project was very close to my heart.” In fact, it was close to all of us and working together has been fun for our core candle-making team; dealing with problems both within the larger team and outside of it has strengthened our bond, as we gelled together as one unit for a cause we believed in.
Conducting market research on candles, managing our candle-making team, packing and pricing of products and selling were really great learning experiences we gained from the project. In just a few days, we will be back to Pratap Vihar to distribute the hard-earned profits to a team, half of whom trust us and half of whom don’t. Can this be the beginning of a new life for our Chak De team? Will all the Preeti Sabrewals and Komal Chautalas come together to take this up as a sustainable venture? Will these candles light up their lives? Only time can tell. But we, at MADF are quietly confident that they will. Let us wait and see! For now it is Chak De Pratap Vihar!
As with every project, the stumbling blocks were aplenty. Infact, it took days of effort and discussions with the natives of Ghaziabad to even find out the target group for the project. We approached several slums with an honest intention to contribute to the betterment of their lives. But most of them did not place enough trust on the project. Some others found it extremely suspicious to find a group of youngsters organizing a free training camp and getting raw material for them, all to finally distribute every penny of the profit back to them. But finally we were successful at convincing a group of thirteen women at Pratap Vihar, 7 to 8 kms away from IMT.
In the following days, we had to hold meetings to the tune of almost once in two days to decide upon a number of matters. We needed funding for our project. We needed to know the best place to purchase our raw materials from, the kind of candles which are in demand in the market, the profit margins we might be able to make and the number of candles we need to make. Another critical issue was that we wanted to tap the huge market potential of candles prior to Diwali. The next few days answered most of these questions for us.
We visited several parts of the NCR region to find out the cheapest rates of raw materials like wax, gel wax and the like. Market research was conducted to find out the kind of candles that are much in demand. Most shopkeepers just offered to purchase from us if and only if the candles are supremely impressive and well-packed as some had their stocks full already and some were expecting imported candles from as far as China. Thus a new challenge popped up in the form of packing, as packing material including boxes were sold out in most shops due to the festive season. Also the question of whether our Chak De candle making team would be able to take on the imported candles from the land of the Great Wall, remained a question mark in our minds.
The issue of funds was resolved as the Rotary Club of Ghaziabad promised to fund Rs 20000 for our project after going through the draft. Suddenly another avenue opened up in the form of a Diwali special rotary meeting! We could put up a stall there! This was a turning point as we were also concerned about the margins we would be able to earn from selling to local shops or to famed ones like Archies.
Soon, the candle-making expert was roped in and on October 27, our project which we call ‘Sashakt’ was set rolling after the inauguration function attended by some of the Rotary members and our own S.K. Singh Sir. A tent had been propped up for our purpose at Pratap Vihar and the work started. Soon the tent was a beehive of activity with people immersing themselves in all kinds of tasks from melting the gel to designing the glass. We also caught a lot of unwanted attention in the form of spectators who were all too curious to see how candle making happens. We had to make sure that such things did not hamper our progress, at the same time ensuring that we didn’t earn their dislike. We wanted a bonding with the community; their trust, respect and love.
The first two days were days of sweet success after all our toil and we were able to make nearly 200 pieces. But the third day greeted us with a problem we never anticipated. There were a few doubting Thomases and Bindiya Naiks in our Chak De team who were already asking for the returns. We did win back some of them; but some we couldn’t. So on the third day, we were working with a reduced work force of 7 or 8 people who trusted us. By the end of the day, our total stock had increased to 570 odd candles of different varieties ranging from diyas to beer-mugs, with a total investment approximating Rs 12000! We decided that its time to hit the market with our stuff. But the next challenge was packing. We spent several days and nights at Rohan’s home, packing the candles in innovative sets, using cardboard and plastic and were soon ready for sale with candles priced at less than market rates, starting from nearly Rs 30 to jumbo-pack pieces worth Rs 600.
We put up stalls at the Rotary Diwali Meeting and two days later at IMT, both of which were great successes. We at MADF, extend our gratitude to all the Rotarians, IMT ians and professors at IMT who contributed to it. Specially, we would love to appreciate the benevolence of the rotary members who auctioned off two of our jumbo-pack pieces for a breath-taking Rs 1100 each, resulting in total revenue earnings of nearly Rs 21000. This project has been a whopping success and it would not have been possible without the help of the Rotary Club of Ghaziabad, S.K. Singh Sir and the encouragement of people like Abhishek Joshi, Mathew and others like Arun Ladha who were at the heart of the project despite even mid-term exams. (If any names have been left out its purely unintentional and I seek your pardon.) In Arun’s own words, “This project was very close to my heart.” In fact, it was close to all of us and working together has been fun for our core candle-making team; dealing with problems both within the larger team and outside of it has strengthened our bond, as we gelled together as one unit for a cause we believed in.
Conducting market research on candles, managing our candle-making team, packing and pricing of products and selling were really great learning experiences we gained from the project. In just a few days, we will be back to Pratap Vihar to distribute the hard-earned profits to a team, half of whom trust us and half of whom don’t. Can this be the beginning of a new life for our Chak De team? Will all the Preeti Sabrewals and Komal Chautalas come together to take this up as a sustainable venture? Will these candles light up their lives? Only time can tell. But we, at MADF are quietly confident that they will. Let us wait and see! For now it is Chak De Pratap Vihar!
