A greeting they do something with

By the evening of Diwali most phones hold a hundred forwarded greetings that look alike. A scratch card is the one that asks to be touched: gold foil, a line of marigolds and mango leaves across the top, two diyas at the bottom — and fireworks over the whole screen when the foil comes off.

Making the card

1. Start from “Diwali”.
2. Write your wish as the hidden message. Type it in any script — Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali — and the card sets it in a face made for that script.
3. Choose the language of the other person's screen under “Language they will read”. The hints and buttons they see will be in that language even if their phone is set to English.
4. Add your name — or the family's: “From the Iyers”.

When there is a gift behind it

Diwali is a season of giving, and much of it now happens without a parcel: money sent to a younger cousin, a bonus, a voucher, a delivery that is on its way. Put the gift under the foil — “Your Diwali gift: ₹2,100” — and the practical part in the longer note that opens afterwards: where it was sent, when the parcel will arrive, the code for the voucher. The note holds up to 600 characters.

The “Three spots” scratch area makes it a little more of a game: three diyas to uncover before the message appears.

From a shop, an office or a society

A card signed with a business name works as a Diwali greeting to customers or staff, and the same card can be sent to everyone because nothing in it is personal unless you make it so. For staff, one card can hold the greeting and a second, scratched after it, the bonus. Two things to know: the card carries text and emoji only — no logo — and anyone a link is forwarded to can open it, so a card is not the place for anything confidential.

Timing

Lock the card to the evening of Lakshmi Puja, or to midnight on the day, and send it early; it shows a countdown until then. Use a different lock for each day of the festival if you like — Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhai Dooj — each with its own card.

For relatives abroad

For family who will be on a video call during the puja, send the link while you are talking and have them scratch it then. Or open it yourself in “Party mode” at the gathering and let the youngest person in the room do the scratching.