Thacshala – Cake Maker from Hatton

Balakrishnan Thacshala (34) left her job as an accountant in Colombo when COVID-19 struck. “I used to bake cakes as a hobby after my Advanced Levels. After a few years, I abandoned it because I started working,” she said. “When I left that job in Colombo, a few of my previous customers who bought my hobby cakes, encouraged me to continue baking cakes. I was experienced so I thought why not. Now, it’s been about two and a half years since I started this.”

“Business was better during COVID-19, compared to now during this economic crisis,” she said. “I still had customers back then. The pandemic closed most of the bakeries in my area, so everyone got to know about me and came to me for baked goods.”

“Now the prices are all too high — bakery items are three times the usual price. A one-kilogram cake costs nearly LKR 5000. So people don’t spend as much, and we are running a low-profiting business,” she said. “I used to make around five cakes per day. Now, it’s never more than two per day. That’s it.”

“My future plan is to build a cake academy in the upcountry. Cake courses are expensive nowadays and everyone doesn’t get a chance to learn. So considering this, I wish to build an academy and give opportunities to the people in my community.”