BEYOND THE SKY AND THE EARTH: A JOURNEY INTO BHUTAN

Beyond the Sky and Earth is an autobiography by Jamie Zeppa that recounts her experiences in
the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan.

A picturesque description of the place is given through the metaphoric title. Hyperbolic nature
of the title initiates wonderment and admiration in the reader in the beginning itself. The
preposition ‘beyond’ signifies a crossing over into an unfamiliar magical place. Moreover, a
sacred feel is embedded in the title as the writer has spirited away from the materialistic world
into a spiritual one. Colon in the title immediately reveals the place ‘beyond the sky and the
earth’.

The travelogue begins with the metaphorical phrase ‘mountains all around’ to introduce the
mountainous setting of Bhutan against the sky. The personified phrase ‘climbing into peaks’
brings the altitude of the several peaks of the mountains. Diacope ‘again and again’ shows the
never ending mountains. The negative phrase ‘all and only mountains’ reinforce the
mountainous image created in the beginning of the article and her disappointment at the
mountainous place. Through the geographical jargons ‘landmass, landscape, Indian
subcontinent’ the writer explains the geographical structure of the county. Moreover, it shows
writer’s expertise in history and Geography. Geological evidence establishes that historical
information is a fact. Analogy /hyperbolic/humorous image ‘giant child gathering …fall
through’ gives a description of its natural scenic beauty and its craftsmanship. The rhyming
verbs ‘pinching, knuckling, piling, poking, gathering ‘helps the reader visualize the physical
features of the land.

Second paragraph begins with a time marker first night’ her detailing of a strange ‘first night’
in Thimphu. Factual language is used to educate the readers the capital of the place. Detailed and
informative itinerary in the second paragraph gives a clear picture of travelling to Bhutan from a
western country. At the same time it brings a sense of isolation and privation. Her struggles of
the journey and overwhelming excitement are compressed in the paradoxical line ‘’ I am
exhausted but I cannot sleep’. From the ‘simple, pine –paneled room’, she takes the readers
on a journey to a setting of pristine mountain ‘I watch the mountains rise to meet the moon’,
this personified line ripples the magical beauty and a feeling a closeness to the moon, moreover,
it reiterates to the title. This striking beauty contrasts with the simplicity of the hotel room.
Repetition of mountains shows uniqueness of the country, and her unfamiliarity with
mountainous region. Violent imagery/violent metaphor ‘convulsion’ brings an image of the
formation of earth below her OR it’s a description of the rough terrain below her. Through the
oxymoron ‘frozen desert’ the writer illustrates the snowcapped landscape. Polysyndeton listing /
rule of three ‘thin and dry and very cold’ towards the end of paragraph exposes the extreme
weather conditions of the place and the environment stresses at high altitude.

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The time marker ‘next morning’ makes the reader part of her journal. She allows the reader to
taste her drearily dull breakfast through the negative adjectives the ‘plasticky white bread ‘and’
flavorless red jam’. Juxtaposition from the scenic landscapes to the breakfast show the
country’s poverty. Contrasting adjectives introduce the two Canadians, and thus bring the
diversity of Canada. The detailed descriptions of the Canadians make the readers familiarize her
companions. The alliterated verbs ‘travelled’ and ‘trekked’ show the writer’s focus is on their
adventurous travelling experiences to remote places, and her determined thoughts in joining with
them. Their liveliness and enthusiasm assuages the initial strangeness of the writer, and the
complex sentence towards the end of the paragraph elaborates the reasons for accompanying
them ‘to pick up some of their enthusiasm’.

Statistic explanation shows thinly populated Thimphu. The comparative adjective ‘smaller’
emphasizes writer’s unexpected surprise at the dull city .The antiquated method of traffic control
is juxtaposed with the ‘blue-suited policeman’. The adjective ‘incomprehensible’ shows her
unfamiliarity with traditional way of traffic control and the conjunctional phrase ‘but graceful
hand gestures’ involves the courtesy, patience and gracefulness of the natives. The
characteristics style of Bhutan’s architecture is featured through the vivid description of
buildings. List of groceries show Bhutan is cut off from the outside world but the reference to
‘Willie Nelson’ and ‘Rambo’ shows the slight ‘cultural infiltration’.

Through the short sentence ‘Thimphu’ is actually new ‘; Gordon shares his views on its
cultural landscape and its sustenance. The sarcastic dialogue ‘’Thimphu will never look like …
in the east’ ’he brings a comparison of Thimphu to the remote places of Bhutan. This short
paragraph shows the importance of sustaining the cultural landscapes in Bhutan as a source of
identity for the Bhutanese people.

The detailed description of majestic grandeur seat of “The Royal Government of Bhutan’ is a
juxtaposition to the buildings explained in the previous paragraph and to the ‘hamlets’ beyond.
This vivid description helps the reader to visualize the uniqueness of this structure. Bhutan’s
unique cultural landscape and heritage lands coexist harmoniously with nature bearing witness to
the distinctive Tibetan tradition. This is portrayed through the rural lexis ‘rice paddies, a few
farm houses, and a dzong’’. Seeing this distinctive style, the writer comes to a conclusion
‘Thimphu will never look like New York to me’’. It’s, of course, the writer’s prediction on
Bhutan’s future development and her admiration for the Tibetan tradition.

Her initial negative impression shifts to amazement from the seventh paragraph when she sees
handsome Bhutanese. To support her perspective and to change her opinion to a fact, she
brings the opinion of an emissary. Their aristocratic appearance is portrayed through adjectives
which give a visual image of concrete noun. A series of comparative adjectives are used to
introduce the features of Bhutanese of Nepali origin. Cultural heritage of Bhutan is again
brought through their national dress.

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Though Bhutan is secluded from the western world, the young man’s guidance in ‘impeccable
English’ has astonished the writer. This anecdote highlights the literacy level of Bhutanese. Her
enthusiasm for Bhutanese is irresistible and her descriptions of her encounters with them give a
clear picture of their culture. A series of positive dictions are used to describe the courteousness
and sincere affection of Bhutanese. The hyphenated dependent clause/litotes brings the writer’s
apology at her inability in finding a ‘single word ‘to describe their cordiality.

The penultimate paragraph diverges from her personal experiences to historical, religious,
demographic, and linguistic information. Factual historical information details the settlement of
Tibetan immigrants, origin of Buddhism, origin of its name. Enumeration of these historical
evidences elucidates the ancient history of the place and their unique culture.

Courageous nature of the Bhutanese to fight against the colonial powers is mentioned in the last
paragraph. Here we can see her supportive attitude for resisting the Westerners to dominate into
this cultural and traditional land. She compares Bhutan to the other Asian countries which were
being overrun by Europeans. The aggressiveness of Bhutanese to westerners is brought through
the historical anecdote ‘disastrous visit of Ashley Eden’. The power of Bhutan and the writer’s
exaggeration toward the country is embedded in the epithet ‘’small country’’. The travelogue
ends with her sense of ‘admiration ‘ for Bhutan’s mesmeric beauty , culture, cordiality,
courageousness, tradition, and these attributes make the title ‘Beyond The Sky and Earth’ an
allusion.

This extract is a memoir, the reader learns about Bhutan through the eyes of the narrator, and it
conveys her mixed feelings effectively. The text is full of factual information to educate and
inform the reader about Bhutan. She intertwines facts with her personal experiences to meet the
purpose of her travelogue. Amplified/ descriptive sentences give the reader a vivid description
of how the writer’s reaction changes from an initial lukewarm impression to a gradual
fascination as she begins to learn about the country’s history and its culture. Although it is a
retrospective, it is written in present tense to create a sense of immediacy. Her skillful use of
figurative language has helped the readers to form a mental image of Bhutan.

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