In 'Death in the family' (#153) Daniel Lak has admitted that death, like life, among the poor is a hard business in a poor country like Nepal as compared to Canada. I would just like to add that it's not that easy in Canada either. Just subtract the credit system here, the mortgage, credit cards, and you will find the social gap is as wide. There may be casteism in Nepal, but Canada has racism. And even wealthy Canadians can barely meet medical and funeral facilities without insurance. If one dies in Nepal, however destitute, at least one gets a funeral of one's faith and is not incinerated anonymously in a crematorium. The funeral procession may be made up of barefoot and dirt-poor people, but I would prefer that to the sterile and business-like reading of wills by impersonal lawyers.

D Golkhadi,
Calgary, Canada