True. Kiran's non-Nepali characters have referred Nepalis as Neps. I remember them referring themselves as Bongs (or something similar) too at one point. That's not a big deal. Remember so many people in Nepal refer Indians as "Dhotis". It may be like Brits calling Pakistanis "Pake or Paki". It's not nice, but what can you do? That's not Kiran Desai. That's her Bengali characters calling Nepalis 'Neps'. I am sure there are some cunning (or ethically challenged) people in every society/country.So are honest, kind, and loving ones. If you only mention the first type and totally leave out the second type, you are not being fair. What her non-Nepali characters say about Nepalis is different from how Kiran herself makes her Nepali characters behave. There may have been Nepalis who robbed the judge, captured Lola's land, stole her pickles and bamboos, deserted Sai in her true love, robbed Biju of everything, and so many others. But there must have been at least one good Nepali in that area. I didn't find that Nepali character in the book. When you, as an author, create 50 not-so-good Nepali characters for your book, you can create at least one good/honest/kind Nepali character too. She hasn't done that. She may not have lied about the bad Nepali characters, but she seems to have not created any good ones either. But this hasn't tarnished my perception of Nepalis living in those areas. This book is very well written. Otherwise, it wouldn't have won Booker. RSVP, did I give you enough insight?