Hi, I'm working on a novel involving a Hindu family and need some help making sure I portray the religion accurately. I've researched some online but I'm not sure which beliefs are appropriate to the context, to the sect, which are outdated or interpreted differently, metaphors verses solid beliefs, and how to reconcile those beliefs with the fact that a lot of the story takes place in a dreamworld.
The family is originally from Mumbai but have spent the last 20 years in America. The daughter is the main character. The parents are very interested in social status so knowledge of the caste system would be good. Anything dream-related is GREAT. The conflict in the story stems from nightmares seeping into reality and posessing negative people who in turn grow more negative.
What I'd really love is someone willing to read through the story as I work on it and offer suggestions such as 'in their home, they might have a dawn/dusk lamp and it would look like....' 'Since dreams are involved, she might remember a time when her mother told her about Brahman using dreams to punish immoral actions' etc
It's a young adult / adult fantasy with horror elements. I find some inspiration in Neil Gaiman's work. www.zellie.info is my website
Bonus points if you speak Hindi
Please let me know if you are interested in helping with this long-term project zellieberraine-at-gmail-dot-com
Thanks!
