Mahalaya: Devi Paksha Begins

It is Mahalaya. If you are Bengali, you have probably been awake since four.

Devi Paksha begins today and the countdown is now in single figures: Shashthi on 16 October, then Saptami, Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya Dashami on the 20th.

If the shopping is done

Then this week is not for buying. It is for the things that make the difference between an outfit that works and one that nearly does:

• Try everything on. All of it, this week, with the actual blouse, the actual petticoat and the actual shoes. Every year something does not fit and every year it is discovered on Shashthi evening.
• Get the falls stitched on any new saree. Two days, and tailors are still doing small jobs even now.
• Air the silks. Anything that has been folded in a cupboard since last October needs a few hours in the shade before it will hang properly. See the care guide.
• Decide the days. Which saree on which day, written down. It sounds excessive and it removes every morning's argument. The six-day plan is a starting point.

If it is not done

Buy ready, buy in a store, and buy one good thing rather than three rushed ones. Salwar suits, co-ord sets and Anarkalis need no tailoring. So does a kurta. A saree needs a blouse, and there is no longer time for one.

Our stores are open all week: Park Street and Gariahat in Kolkata, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, Jayanagar in Bengaluru, plus Vijayawada and Kanchrapara.

Six days

Everything for them is at festive collection, sarees, RANJH menswear and kids ethnic wear.