The guidebook · The Works

Diwali with the Sitare

One page, a reply at the end, and a lamp you light first.

In one sentence

A single web page that is an invitation to a Diwali evening: you light a lamp to begin, it explains the festival as you scroll, and near the end you reply.

A moment

On the sofa, with a link from a friend

A friend has sent you a link. You open it, and the page asks who is lighting the lamp. You tap, and the page lights up around the lamp in three beats. Then it asks a kind question: is this your first Diwali?

You tap yes. It tells you what to wear, that shoes come off for the puja, and what to say when you arrive. You scroll on through the festival. At the end you give your name, tap how many of you are coming, and send it. The page answers with fireworks.

You never had to ask anyone anything.

Why I made it

Why not just send a card?

A family hosts Diwali every year for friends, and many of the friends have never been to one. A card says when and where and nothing else. A group chat loses the replies. I made one page that welcomes, teaches, counts and remembers, and it asks for help in a way that never feels like asking.

What's inside

What is inside it?

1 · The doorThe lamp and the way inA lamp to light, three beats of light, and a question: is this your first Diwali?Like being handed a lamp at the door.
2 · The eveningThe festival and the night, explainedThe five days of Diwali, three old ages it remembers, seven groups of moments from earlier years, the shape of the night, and ten questions answered.Like a friend who explains as you walk.
3 · The replyA yes or a noNames, how many, an entry song, anything to perform. You can come back with your phone number and change it.Like a guest book that finds you again.
4 · Carry the lightHelping, quietlyPledge a gift toward the food, the lamps and the fireworks, by name with a portrait or anonymously. An amount is never shown.Like bringing a dish, but without the awkward part.
5 · The hosts' roomA page behind a passcodeThe family reads the replies and gifts here, sorted into nine tabs for the jobs they do.Like the back of the house, where the lists are kept.

Use it

The page, in the order you will meet it

  1. Open the link. The page asks who is lighting the lamp. Tap to light it.
  2. Answer the first question. Yes opens a short way in. No carries on.
  3. Scroll the festival. The five days (tap one to read it), the three ages, and why a row of lamps.
  4. Look back through the years. Seven groups of moments, 33 in all, four of them films. Tap the right side to go on, the left to go back.
  5. Turn the sound on if you like. It is off until you ask, apart from the bell when you light the lamp. There is a bell, a tanpura and fireworks.
  6. Read the practicals. Where, when, what to wear. Get directions and Add to calendar each offer a choice of app.
  7. Reply. Say yes or no. A yes lights fireworks, and a no lights a quiet lamp. To change a reply later, tap Find my reply and enter your phone number.
  8. Carry the light, if you wish. Pick $101, $251, $501 or $1,001, or another amount, and say how you would like to be recognised. You then give by check or Zelle. The page charges nothing.

What it won't do

  • Show your phone number or birth date to another guest.
  • Show a gift with its amount, or name a guest who asked to be anonymous.
  • Make anyone perform, or ask for an account or a password.
  • Charge a card. A gift on the page is a pledge, sent by check or Zelle.

What's real, and what isn't yet

  • The invitation is live and taking replies, for Saturday 21 November 2026, from 5pm, at 1370 Adams Road, Bensalem PA 19020.
  • Exact timings for the evening are shared closer to the day.
  • One lamp on the page is kept dark, and its secret is kept until the night.
  • The same invitation reused for another gathering is designed, not yet built.

If you want to try it

Can I try it?

Anyone with the link can open it. Anyone can also read how every part of it works.

Open the invitation How it works →