Beside being a first man to summit Mt Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary returned to Nepal to build schools and hospitals. He should be recognised as a national hero. So why is this hostility and sarcasm towards him in Arti Hamal's letter ("Sir Ed", # 127)? Besides, since when did Tenzing Norgay become a Nepali? Sorry, but he was a decorated and admired citizen of India. So, how is he, as Hamal puts it, "our own"? Unless she is saying that all of humanity is "our own".

Ram Bahadur Nepal,
USA