I think Bengalis are referred to as Bongs, isn't that so? I too did not like the derogatory portrayal of Nepalis in Desai's book. Though she lived in Kalimpong, she was quoted as saying she would not consider herself or her family as Kalimpong's, perhaps due to displaced colonial superiority complex or because she got picked on by her Nepali mates while growing up. But the crux of the matter is that, this is, after all, a freaking fiction book. Who gives a flying fudge what one gujju girl thinks in her own little mind. Nepalis in genral, and Kalimpongeys in particular, should not be beholden to what others think of themselves. We are who WE think we are.