“Look at how a single candle can both defy
and define the darkness.”
― Anne Frank
Thursday 1 August 2013
Today was the first day of candle making
activity. It was a completely novel
experience for me, and I was ready to take up the challenge. This activity
came under the Creativity section of the programme and today I devoted 2 of the
8 hours this activity would take up.
We aim to make around 100 candles and then
sell them to raise fund for the underprivileged children. The fund raising
however would come under the Service part of CAS.
Contrary to my prior notion making candles
is a fairly easy task, given you are careful. In fact, I realised that making
candles involves 6 basic steps:
1. Grease
the mould.
2. Melt
the wax.
3. Add
colour.
4. Put
a wick in the mould.
5. Pour
the molten wax in the mould and let it cool.
6. Remove
the candle from the mould once solid.
Nevertheless, performing the activity
actually isn’t that easy. The wax is melted in a double boiler. It is a special
apparatus used to melt delicate substances and can be difficult to handle at
times.
It also requires a lot of patience and
precision. Although I made only 5 small candles today, it made me much more
confident about making candles.
Friday 2 August 2013
I knew we would have a candle making
session today so I had planned that
I would make at least 5 more candles today and that they would be different
from the ones I had made yesterday. For that I consulted my Activity Supervisor
Mrs. Deepshri, who suggested that I should make gel candles, which require more
technique but are obviously more exquisite.
I was much more committed to it this time; therefore, I could not only handle the
things properly but could also grasp new
techniques easily. It was really exciting because the molten gel wax would
solidify if I weren’t punctual, resulting in a wax with bubbles and froth. I
had to multitask and in doing so I realised at I had developed a sort of
assembly line, which was more efficient than the earlier process.
I completed 2 more of the total 8 hours of
this activity today. I was really happy that I learned so much hitherto and
that I was erred to consider candle making a trivial task. Everything has so
much to teach you, you just need to be willing to learn.
Thursday 22 August 2013
So many days had passed since I last made
candles. I was, to some extent, missing the aroma of molten wax, for I got so
used to it in just two days. Well, in today’s session, I saw all those candles
I had made till now and was so satisfied to behold my work and that of others.
I was going to complete 6 hours of this
activity today, and so I had planned that I would make it a little different today.
I wanted to collaborate with my classmates in to a small team so that we can
share our ideas and come up with something novel. I thus, teamed up with
Shubham and Tanmay for today’s activity. It was a little difficult to work
because more the people more the mess. But I was determined to work in synchrony
with others and so I accepted some of their suggestions while also putting in
my own. Since we were more in number the work was divided, and it enabled us to
come up with more exotic colour combinations and extra features for the
candles. Working together really turned out to be very helpful.
Thursday 29 August 2013
Today was the last day of candle making
activity and I devoted 2 more hours to the amazingly creative activity, thus completing
the 8 hours.
I
thought that since I had put in so much of creativity in it, I would be left
with none. But it turned out to be just the opposite, I had learned so many
things and now, I was feeling more full of creativity than ever before.
We un-moulded the remaining candles and
gave them all a finishing touch. We also decorated some of the larger candles
so the they appealed to the buyer. Now that we had our candles ready it was
time to be the purveyors. That however would start in the next month.
It was a really amazing experience and it
taught me a lot. I know it is just the beginning, but that itself excites me. I
look forward to more of such activities.
This activity comes under the Action part
of our CAS and is a long term activity. It shall account for 8 action hours. 
Water has always fascinated man, and it
still does. As soon as we reached the swimming pool I could see the change in
the energy levels of my fellow friends. It was as if the denser water had a
more intense gravity and was pulling them all towards it. I myself felt so enthusiastic
that I couldn’t resist jumping in to the water. 
