29 SEPTEMBER 1990, Page 33

Ages of man

Sir: I write with reference to Don Cupitt's review of Freedom in Exile: The Auto- biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet (15 September). 'He claims to be a 56-year-old born on 6 July 1935. Do people really get such things wrong?'

I have no specific knowledge of Tibetan culture, or which Western cultures the Dalai Lama has been exposed to, but I am aware that a number of cultures consider children to be aged one during their first 12 months after birth, so that upon their first birthday they become two (i.e. they are in their second year). This could explain the apparent one-year discrepancy.

Stuart Kingwell 1 Clarence Terrace,

London NW1