DECIPHERING THE BLESSED HOUSE BY JHUMPA LAHIRI: EXPLORATION OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE (Pages 160-169) by Vishal Pandya in THE ENGLISH INDIA / ISSN: 2321-1172 (Online); 2347-2634 (Print)

Jhumpa Lahiri “This Blessed House” was one of the most powerful stories. It exemplified the respect for a religion that people have whether they actually believe in it or not. Sanjeev and Twinkle were Indian Hindus who were certain that they weren’t Christians. Lahiri presents Twinkle, the female character, as the dominate force in the relationship. Twinkle has all of the masculine traits in the story such as the bad habit of smoking, laziness, a wild side, and is the decision maker of the relationship. Although Sanjeev insists on getting rid of all the Christian paraphernalia, Twinkle simply replies to him with, “No, we’re not Christian. We’re good little Hindus” as she kissed the head of the Christ figure. “This Blessed House” included a lot of themes including: love, sacrifice, respect, etc. Sanjeev’s love and respect for Twinkle made it possible for him to sacrifice his personal beliefs and hold the Christ’s head at the end of the story, “Sanjeev pressed the massive silver face to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed her [Twinkle]”. “This Blessed House” in Interpreter of Maladies showing contrast and similarity between the two main characters. Sanjeev born and raised in Calcutta, educated in the United States, attended MIT, and an engineering professional is newly married to California born and raised Twinkle who is very much a young vibrant modern American woman who is also highly educated working on her masters at Stanford. The similarities between them physically are their ethnicity, but visibly to anyone else they could not be any more different. Keywords: Love, Marriage, Material Culture.