Three Days to Mahalaya: The Last Useful Checklist

Mahalaya falls on 10 October and Shashthi on the 16th. Everything below assumes you are reading this on the 7th.

Still possible

• Buying ready-to-wear. A salwar suit, co-ord set, Anarkali or kurti needs no tailoring. So does a kurta.
• Buying in a store. Park Street and Gariahat in Kolkata, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, Jayanagar, Vijayawada, Kanchrapara. You can try it on before you pay.
• Fall and pico on a saree you already own. Two days, and worth doing now rather than on the 15th.
• A simple blouse, if you go tomorrow and accept a plain princess cut. Nothing with a designed back.

Already too late

• A blouse with hand embroidery or a designed back. Two weeks, minimum, and every tailor closed their book last week.
• Anything ordered to a non-metro address that you need before Shashthi.
• A second try at the size. Online orders are not exchanged for size, so if you are between sizes, buy this one in a store.

The five things that get forgotten every year

1. The petticoat. In the right colour, in the right length, with a drawstring. Nobody buys these until the morning of.
2. Safety pins. Genuinely.
3. Shoes worn in. New footwear plus five hours of walking ends the evening early. See the pandal-hopping guide.
4. Something for the morning after. Whatever you wear on Saptami night will not be dry for Ashtami morning.
5. The children have grown. Try their outfits on this week, not on Shashthi.

If you have nothing at all

Buy one good ready outfit rather than three rushed ones, and repeat it with different drapes and different jewellery. A repeated good outfit beats three panicked ones, every time.

The whole week is planned in the six-day guide, and everything festive is at festive collection.