01:06 Sep 30, 2008 

Hello again,
Thanks for the entry. Hope this helps:
I'm fairly certain that doesn't happen in Urdu. Are you reading the book in Urdu text... if you could just put a clip of the surrounding text here, that would be great and possibly easier to understand and explain.
Other than that, it's difficult to say without getting the story of the fisherman and the child, why that term is being used to address a child. Again... it could either be used as a name.. but you would know that as your reading the book, or; most likely... in the fed up sense: 'o.k.. i give up baba (boss) as u say.'
so, waiting for your reply,
Naseera

11:01 Sep 29, 2008 

Hi,
In both Turkish and Persian, an adult speaking to a child will sometimes use the term he expects the child to address him with as a term of address for the child.
So, for example, in Turkish, a big sister will call her brother "Big Sister" just to establish the relationship.
Does this happen in Urdu? Could it be that "baba" as used to mean "child" is an example of this?
Many thanks for the excellent help,
Simon