Zooming In On Ammachi

You can see more new photos here, which are part of my documentary project on my grandmother.

I've been struggling with whether to spell the Malayalam word for grandmother "Ammichi" or "Ammachi". I'd been sticking to my guns and spelling it Ammichi for the longest time because of the way it sounded. Malayalam has its own alphabet, so I can spell any word as I please when I transliterate it into English.

Then I concluded Ammachi makes sense because it is based on the root word "Amma", which means mother. And it's also the way everyone else seems to spell it.

I've seen Varughese also spelled "Varghese" and "Verghese". It all depends on pronunciation.