Suddenly there’s a power cut. “Darn it!” I cuss and close the book I’m reading. I let my eyes adapt to the darkness before I seek that little waxy pillar to dispel the sudden darkness. Many people seem to have stopped using candles or lamps during emergencies preferring gadgets such as rechargeable lamps, solar lamps, LED bulbs, etc. I think these conveniences are suitable only for factories and shops, not homes. The light from LED bulbs seems more fake than artificial.
In the 1948 book Readings from the Scientists (Edward Mason, Ed.) is a piece titled ‘The Chemical History of a Candle’. Written by Michael Faraday who hardly had schooling, this piece makes profitable reading for primary school children. It is a simple and elegant exposition on something as common as a burning candle from the moment it is lit until the flame is snuffed.
In my childhood, some 50 years back, my mother used kerosene lamps. They were ubiquitous when power cuts were frequent. They could be mounted on walls, and produced some soot. Perhaps kerosene lamps were used because they lasted longer than candles, which were also more expensive. Which would I choose? For ease of maintenance alone, I would choose the candle. My candle is firmly affixed in the waxy grave of its predecessors contained in a glass holder.
Many households use UPS. Others have all sorts of gadgets to dispel the darkness. No doubt these make life easier. But they lack that romance only a candle flame or an oil lamp can bring, don’t you agree? During a power cut, compare a person with a candle opening the door to one opening the door with a rechargeable light; the candlelight seems to extend a gentle welcome but the rechargeable light seems to yell it.
There are all sorts of candles from white and odourless pillar candles to aromatic candles, therapeutic candles, tea candles and what not. Candle making is also an art and candles are made to order for special occasions. There are books and books on candle making. LED lights — toy lights, as I call them — are replacing candles and lamps. Some decades ago, oil lamps used for pooja were replaced with flickering bulbs. Now it is LED diyas. The kerosene lamp is practically forgotten in cities.
I remember how sometime in 1995, the owner of the college where I once served as a teacher gave orders to all the teachers to — believe it or not — sell candles. Yes, sell candles! What was horrifying was not the order but that all teachers, save one or two, took it as a challenge and began enthusiastically competing with each other, no different from canines eager to impress their master! And talking about selling candles, have you watched the YouTube clip of Ronnie Barker buying four candles? Is there a more humorous TV episode?
Symbolically, candles and lamps have their own significance. Lighting a candle can be symbolic of reviving something, of giving hope or of enlightenment. They symbolise knowledge, enlightenment, contemplation, and life itself. G.M. Hopkins used the candle in his poem ‘The Candle Indoors’ as a metaphor for faith. Elton John thought that a candle can represent a person itself; Marilyn Monroe was to him a candle in the wind. Others like me would assert that she was the wind, nay a maelstrom.
It is hard for me to describe the experience of lighting a candle, and watch the flame grow to its full brightness, illuminating a small area around it and gently swathing the walls with adequate lambency. It is an experience that demands the gift of poetry for a proper exposition.
It was common in olden days for homes to have candle/lamp niches in walls. But for some time now such niches are found only in luxury homes with chandeliers and other fancy lights! Why have we common citizens forgotten to make such candle niches in our dwellings? There’s something of an ineluctable Miniver Cheevy in people of my generation, I think.
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