Govardhan Puja and the Family Lunch

The day after Diwali is Govardhan Puja and Annakut — the mountain of food offered and then eaten. Whatever it is called in your house, the shape of the day is the same: daylight, a long lunch, and every relative you have.

A daytime occasion, at last

Four evening occasions in a row and then this one, in full sun, which changes everything. Colour that vanished by lamplight works here: pastels, ivory, sage, powder blue, all the shades that were invisible on Sunday night.

A cotton or linen saree, a jamdani, or a light Tussar. Festive enough for a puja, sane enough for a lunch you will be eating a great deal at.

The part nobody writes about

You are going to be in a kitchen at some point today, and you are going to be sitting on a floor eating. Sleeves that end at the elbow, a pallu that is pinned, and no drape that needs a hand to keep it in place. This is the practical case for a salwar suit or a co-ord set, and there is no shame in it.

The children, who are by now exhausted

Day five of festival clothes. Something soft, something washable, and something they have already worn once so there are no surprises. Kurti suits and palazzos beat a lehenga for a lunch, every time.

Tomorrow is the last one

Bhai Dooj, and then the season turns to weddings. If you have a wedding in the diary for late November, tomorrow afternoon is genuinely the last quiet moment to get to a tailor before the queues start. See the six-week plan, and the wedding collection for what to be looking at.