For the day the name is given

In many families the name is not told to anyone until the naming ceremony — the namkaran, the barasala, the noolukettu, the christening. A scratch card fits either side of that day. Before it, send the link with a lock set to the hour of the ceremony: relatives who cannot travel open it and see a countdown, and the foil only scratches once the name has been given. After it, send the card as the announcement, with the date and place in the small line under the name.

Making the card

1. Start from “Baby Name”.
2. Replace “Aarav” with the name. The message can be up to 60 characters, so “Meet baby Aarav Krishna Menon” fits; the lettering shrinks to suit the length.
3. Change the heading on the card if you like — “Our baby's name is…” is printed above the foil.
4. Choose pink, blue or any colour. If the colour would tell people something you have not announced yet, switch on “Keep the colour a secret”.

Say what the name means

Most people who scratch the card will want to know why you chose it. The longer note is the place: the meaning, the language it comes from, who the baby is named after, how to pronounce it. It appears after the scratching, on a sheet of writing paper, and holds up to 600 characters.

Writing the name in its own script

Type the name in Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam or Gujarati and the card sets it in a face made for that script, in keeping with the lettering you chose. You can put the Latin spelling in the small line underneath, so that both appear on the saved picture.

A name with a build-up

Add cards to the same link and they are scratched in order: “It starts with A”, then “It means the first ray of the sun”, then the name. Only the last card gets the celebration. Or use “Three spots” as the scratch area: three matching symbols have to be uncovered before the name appears.

At the ceremony

Open the link on your own phone, tap “Party mode” and mirror it to a television. “3 · 2 · 1 · Reveal” counts down and takes the foil off for everyone in the room at once.