Family occasions
Five days about family bonds, from Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj to Children's Day and the day for older persons, with dates and what to write.
Two sibling festivals, two international days and one that belongs to children. Small category, heavily used.
Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are the two days in the Hindu calendar built entirely around siblings. They run in opposite directions: at Rakhi a sister ties the thread and a brother promises protection, while at Bhai Dooj the sister receives her brother at her home and marks his forehead. Both are far more flexible in practice than greeting cards suggest, covering cousins, chosen siblings and sisters who tie rakhi to each other.
Children's Day on 14 November is Jawaharlal Nehru's birth anniversary and is marked in schools across the country. The International Day of Families and the International Day of Older Persons are UN observances.
What to write to family, which is the hardest audience
Families are the people we say the least to. The words feel unnecessary, the sentiment is assumed, and in many Indian households saying something warm out loud is faintly embarrassing.
That is exactly why writing works. A card can carry what a conversation at the dinner table cannot, and it gets kept.
Two things to try. Say the thing you would not say in front of everyone: the thanks, the apology, the admission that you understand them better than you used to. And be specific about them rather than about the relationship, because "you're the best mother in the world" says less than one accurate sentence about what she actually did.
Raksha Bandhan wishes covers the sibling promise in detail, and thank-you messages covers why gratitude inside an Indian family often works better without the word "thanks" in it.