Gift design

A Bhai Dooj they step into

Light the diyas, do the tilak and the aarti — and stop a teddy running off with all the laddoos.

An open courtyard at dusk: light the diyas, do the tilak and the aarti, stop a teddy running off with the laddoos — and open a present with your photos and letter inside.

Make one See it live

It opens on a pair of old carved doors with a marigold toran over them. They open them — and they're standing in an open courtyard at dusk: a rangoli on the floor, diyas everywhere, still unlit, and two teddies waiting. A sister in a red anarkali and a sheer dupatta, and her brother in his red kurta on his patta, swinging his legs.

They look round it by moving their phone, and every tap makes the next part of the ceremony happen.

What happens when they open it

1
The diyas, the tilak, the aarti
They light the diya on the thali, and the light runs out from it to every diya in the courtyard — round the rangoli, in the niches, all along the parapet against the sky. Then the tilak: a tap on the roli, a tap on the rice, and she puts it on his forehead while he shuts his eyes. Then the aarti — one circle of the thali for every circle they make with their phone.
2
The laddoos
She offers him one laddoo. He looks past it at the box — jumps off his patta, grabs the whole thing and hugs it. She takes it back, and gives him the one.
3
Your present, your photos, your letter
Your teddy — the brother or the sister, whichever you are — fetches a present and holds it up to them. Inside: your photos, each rising up to be looked at with a line under it if you like, then hanging on the marigold garland; and a letter that unrolls and writes itself out. It ends with the two teddies standing side by side, holding hands, lanterns going up out of the courtyard, and Happy Bhai Dooj and both your names written across the sky.

Who it suits

A brother or sister in another city or another country this Bhai Dooj
Sending on the morning, before the video call at tilak time
Siblings who'd laugh at the laddoo bit — which is most of them
Raksha Bandhan too — pick it when you make one, and she ties a rakhi on his wrist

Worth knowing

This is a premium design. Making it needs a Google sign-in and one premium credit, and it stays online for 90 days. The person you send it to just opens the link — no account on their side.
You choose who it's for — your brother or your sister — and your names go on the two teddies' tags. Your teddy is the one who brings the present.
Photos are optional. Up to four come out of the present, each with a line under it if you like; with fewer than two, our own festival pictures fill in.
It's for Bhai Dooj or Raksha Bandhan — you choose which when you make it. For Raksha Bandhan, after the tilak she ties a rakhi on his wrist (and he can't stop looking at it); the greeting and the words in the sky follow the festival.
Turn the sound on: the bells, the diyas catching and the laddoo squabble are half the fun.
On an iPhone they tap Allow once so moving the phone looks round the courtyard. If they'd rather not, dragging does the same thing — and the aarti can be done with taps.

Occasions it's offered for

Raksha Bandhan Bhai Dooj

Send this one

Write your message, get a link, send it however you'd send any link. It takes about five minutes. It's a premium design: you sign in with Google and use one premium credit, and whoever opens it needs no account.

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