A few weeks ahead of Diwali, Som Raj begins working 10 hours a day to make candles for the Blind Relief Association’s Diwali Bazaar. Photographs by Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Bimlesh Bharti (in the foreground) fine-tunes scores of handmade paper gift bags. The 20-year-old hopes to teach literature one day

Visually-challenged children who live at the Blind Relief Association hostel help to block-print paper that is used to make cards

Some of the workers taking a break

Raj Kumar has been making candles for 30 years

A variety of candle moulds are used to produce differently-shaped candles

The sale of candles and diyas starts before the Diwali Bazaar