Sunday 20 July 2008

Request for Help

Okay, I'm a little stuck over a minor point, and could use some expert knowledge. Does anybody reading this speak any Hindi?

The situation is this. I have a scene with Dhiti at home, chatting with her parents. Now, her background is that she's lived in Japan all her life—and in fact her parents probably have, too. They speak Japanese to one another. It's possible, even likely, that Dhiti herself speaks little or no Hindi. But I thought it might be reasonable, and perhaps a nice personality touch, if when she addresses her mother, she uses the Hindi word for "Mom".

The question, of course, is, what's a good, reasonably informal Hindi word for "Mom"? I searched around on the net and came up with "Amma" but I honestly have no idea how correct or appropriate this is. Can anyone comment?

Moving again at last!

I've finally broken the back of the character deadlock that had me stalled. I don't think all the issues raised will be wrapped up this chapter (and that's probably all to the good, as they're rather complex) but at least I've found the way to move ahead.

Chapter 14 has hit 44,000 words. Probably about 80% done, at a guess.