Diwali cleaning traditions include the metal shelf, and peetal repays the attention better than anything else in the house. The trick is timing: an unhurried evening ten days out beats a frantic night before.
Sort the shelf first. Cookware with linings gets wash-and-dry only; polishing linings is forbidden labour. Serving pieces get the full treatment.
The treatment itself: tamarind pulp with a little ash or salt, rubbed in circles across cooled dry metal. Rinse warm. Towel dry immediately and completely; water spots form faster than you think in festive busy-ness.
Assess while clean. Any lining showing bare metal spreading gets an honest note for post-festival renewal, hidden back in the cupboard for nobody's benefit.
Stage everything the night before lamps go up: serving pieces on the table, cookware ready at the stove, diyas' metal neighbours polished to match.
Then let Diwali happen. The metal looks loved because it is, and next year's patina starts recording from tonight.
Polished peetal serving pieces staged on a table beside lit diyas before Diwali evening.