Diwali 2026 · Sunday 8 November
Diwali taash, without the money
Cards at Diwali are older than any of us. The lamps go up, the mithai comes out, and somebody deals. Lazy Patta is that evening — the same games your family has always played, with nothing staked on them, so the table is open to the ten-year-old and the ninety-year-old at once.
When Diwali falls in 2026
Dhanteras is on Friday 6 November, Diwali on Sunday 8 November, and Bhai Dooj on Tuesday 10 November. It lands later than usual this year — an extra lunar month in the summer pushed the whole calendar forward by about three weeks. Navratri comes first, from 11 to 20 October.
Five games for the Diwali table
Each one takes a minute to explain and a few rounds to get loud. Mendicot and Kachuful reward a partner who pays attention; Gadha Chor and Lal Satti are the ones the children win; Jhabbu is the one that starts arguments.
Hosting a patta night in five minutes
Start a table, share the six-letter code on the family group, and everyone joins from their own phone — no app to install, no account to make. Cousins in another city sit at the same table as the people in your living room.
Nothing is staked, and nothing can be
There is no wallet, no chips and no prize: the app has no way to take or pay money, by design. That is what makes it safe to forward to the family group, and what lets the youngest and the oldest at the table play the same game.
Deal the first hand
Open a table in the browser, or install it on an iPhone before the family arrives.