OBOC - Bhutan

I really wanted to read the book by the current Queen of Bhutan, but couldn't find it in the local library. So I settled for Jamie Zeppa's Beyond the Sky and the Earth, and as I wrapped up the book have no regrets!

A Canadian who spent a few years teaching English in some of the remote corners of Bhutan, her story as she discovers Bhutan, makes you want to pack your backpack and head out to Bhutan right away! She vividly captures the landscape, the culture and the politics of Bhutan in the early '90s but despite wearing the Kira and eating the chillies and becoming a Buddhist, she still remains an outsider, but goes as far as one can in a country which is striving hard to maintain its national culture in an era of globalization.

I was a bit puzzled when the book ended in a positive note with her marriage to the Bhutanese student Twsehang who is also the father of her son Pema. Why puzzled? well there were hints in the book that minimalist Bhutan was OK as a "brief" break from consumerist Canada, but definitely could not be a replacement. For e.g she hints "You can love the landscape because your life does not depend on it. It is merely a backdrop for the other life you will always be able to return to". She clearly says "I love the view, but I would not want the life". So I did some research as to what happened to Jamie after her marriage.

Well it was not such a happy ending after all. Cultural differences crept in, and living in Bhutan with a baby was not very convenient especially when there was no emphasis on privacy.

I don't blame the author for stopping the narrative at the Fairy Tale ending, after all no one knows what happened to Cinderella and her Prince Charming when they had to change diapers at 3AM! I don't think the intent of the book was to discuss her failed marriage, but to offer a glimpse into Bhutan which has been shut out for most of the Western world.

But like any good book, this one got me thinking - Are there cultural barriers that cannot be bridged no matter what? Do we tend to over-romanticize the old ways of living, ignoring the hardships that came with that lifestyle? Do average Bhutanese choose the simple way of life or is it the card that they have been dealt with?

It also took me to the recent failed Copenhagen Climate Summit, where developed countries were trying to dictate to developing countries on the kind of lifestyle they can aspire to. Of course it would be extremely convenient to the Developed world if all the other countries in Asia and Africa adopted a Bhutanese lifestyle, but as Dini says in the book "In your mind Bhutan can be whatever you want it to be. But only the Bhutanese know what it is".

With that thought I will wrap it up as I move on to Bangladesh and Bahrain.