Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies

The Malady in “This Blessed House”

“This Blessed House”, the seventh short story in Lahiri’s collection Interpreter of Maladies focuses on and interprets the malady of marriage of an Indian newlywed couple. The story of arranged marriage of Twinkle and Sanjev, two people, who married only after 4 months since their first meeting, shows the symptoms of their dysfunctional marriage, through their moving in to house full of hidden Christian artefacts and highlights the importance of the cure and searching from remedy. The evidence of malady is presented in their lives by mutual misunderstanding and failed expectations in their life together. The symptoms could be divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are self-imposed symptoms created in head of Sanjev, who tells the story, such as unmet expectations not only in his spouse. These symptoms lead to regrets and isolation and they are constant companions of the husband. On the other hand, there are mutual symptoms such as breaking down of communication, which results in the inability to make any compromise. Moreover, there are the contradictory personalities of both partners, which were oblivion for them, because of short long-distance courting. These symptoms not only signal, but also cause the fact that the malady is spreading through their young marriage.

The first symptom of the malady of marriage of this newlywed Indian couple is Sanjev’s dissatisfaction in the marriage and his insisting on the same manners of wife as in India. Since the story is told only from Sanjev’s perspective, the readers see mainly his failed expectations of what the proper Indian wife should be. Sanjev’s main objection to Twinkle and her behaviour is, that she is too reckless and not responsible enough for their life in marriage and taking care of the household. He finds her too impulsive and too caring for things that seem trivial to him and therefore he cannot comprehend her interests or her sometimes nearly childish behaviour. “She was like that, excited and delighted by little things, crossing her fingers before any remotely unpredictable event, like tasting a new flavor of ice cream, or dropping a letter in a mailbox” (Lahiri 142). All these insignificant details seem pointless to Sanjev, who expects his wife to take interest in taking care of him and household. Thus the symptom of failing expectations and hopes, which he put in Twinkle is very crucial, because his failed prospect of marring a proper grown up housewife and not a girl, may spread the malady in their marriage: “He looked at her face, which, it occurred to him, had not grown out of its girlhood, the eyes untroubled, the pleasing features unfirm, as if they still had to settle into some sort of permanent expression. Nicknamed after a nursery rhyme, she had yet to shed a childhood endearment” (Lahiri 142). Sanjev secretly does not approve of Twinkle’s being in constant position of sustained girlhood mainly because he expected his wife to be a proper homemaker, not an impulsive dreamer interested in everything except taking care of their household. This perception is quite common upon Indian husbands in different diaspora, whose majority expects the same from their wives. “Women are expected to be docile homemakers. But their girlish charm may not be a quality an Indian husband in the diaspora may admire or tolerate in wives” (Jain 2315). Twinkle’s spontaneous and girl personality is mainly mirrored in her carelessness in the household and cooking. These activities are very much appraised by her husband Sanjev and therefore the dissatisfaction of Sanjev is an important symptom in their malady of marriage. Twinkle’s not showing enough effort and interest in the kitchen is very crucial for Sanjev, mainly because he judges her character and her prospect of being a proper wife by these qualities. His expectations of everyday cooking done by his wife are however met with his dismay, since Twinkle shows merely no interest in cooking as a whole. “She was not terribly ambitious in the kitchen” (Lahiri 143). Moreover, her visible despise of Indian cuisine degrades Twinkle in Sanjev’s eyes even more as she is not ready or even willing to serve him proper curry or pealed ginger daily. According to this, Sanjev decides to take her role of preparing Indian food, which brings him on the one hand joy, but on the other hand, he regrets the choice of his wife. “Indian food, she complained, was a bother; she detested chopping garlic, and peeling ginger, and could not operate a blender, and so it was Sanjeev who, on weekends, seasoned mustard oil with cinnamon sticks and cloves in order to produce a proper curry” (Lahiri 144). Taking the role of preparing the Indian food in the household, which he desires to eat only emphasizes his dissatisfaction and failed expectations, which he put in his wife and brings bitter regret, mainly because of the fact, that he could have chosen a better wife, who would follow and obey him in his expectancy of cuisine and clean household. However, he chose Twinkle instead, because the enjoyment of her company during their short long-distance courting was more valuable in that time for him, than seasoning the lentils properly. “He thought with a flicker of regret of the snapshots his mother used to send him from Calcutta, of prospective brides who could sing and sew and season lentils without consulting a cookbook. Sanjeev had considered these women, had even ranked them in order of preference, but then he had met Twinkle” (Lahiri 146). These feelings of constant regret accompany him more and more by his knowing Twinkle more personally, since they are only newlywed. His failed expectations in his wife are mirrored by his indifferent feelings towards her and how her behaviour and carelessness in the household starts to annoy him from day to day even more. Twinkle’s lack of sense for putting everything in the order and being too chaotic for Sanjev’s only highlight his disappointment with her. ”Now, in the second month of their marriage, certain things nettled him—the way she sometimes spat a little when she spoke, or left her undergarments after removing them at night at the foot of their bed rather than depositing them in the laundry hamper” (Lahiri 142). Twinkle’s disinterest in keeping the household in order makes Sanjev even more frustrated about his choice of wife. Sanjev’s dissatisfaction in the marriage and his insisting on keeping the manners and behaviour of his wife same as the tradition dictates in India, are the first symptom, which spreads the tumours of malady in their young marriage.

The second symptom of the malady of marriage is Sanjev’s isolation, which is mainly self-imposed. Sanjev’s isolation is caused by his failing to understand Twinkle and things she likes on the one hand, and his inability and unwillingness to stand outside his comfort zone on the other. The main reason for this symptom is Sanjev’s inability to comprehend or understand anything what Twinkle adores or finds interesting. Each time Twinkle’s passions are pointed out, such as the treasure hunt for the religious artefacts, which she finds refreshing, it only reminds Sanjev’s of his failing to find any beauty in it: ”It was a quality he did not understand. It made him feel stupid, as if the world contained hidden wonders he could not anticipate, or see” (Lahiri 142). Sanjev’s isolation is self-imposed and has its roots in his insecurity and feelings of anger, because he is unable to comprehend Twinkle and her enthusiasm for the little things. It makes him feel isolated and inferior. These feelings of irritation only spread the malady in their marriage and make him even more detached, not only from the Twinkle, but also from the world around him. Sanjev’s lack of regard for Twinkle’s passions is visible in his opinion on her treasure hunt for the religious artefacts: “These objects meant something to Twinkle, but they meant nothing to him. They irritated him” (Lahiri 138). The symptom of Sanjev’s isolation arises not only from his inability to appreciate Twinkle’s interests and passions, but also from his lack of care to even try to understand it. This attitude highlights his narrow-mindedness, which is visible in his approach towards her master thesis: “She was completing her master’s thesis at Stanford, a study of an Irish poet whom Sanjeev had never heard of” (Lahiri 145). The more unusual and different her hobbies seem to Sanjev, the more scorn he shows in his point of view. His lack of understanding and also his inability to even try to comprehend his spouse’s interest isolates him, because he is unfit to stand outside his comfort zone and try something new and strange to him. “While Twinkle appears to embrace difference, Sanjeev finds himself unsettled by it” (Williams 76). The more examples of such behaviour are seen through the whole story, because they are told from Sanjev’s perspective. He degrades everything uncommon and different, such as Twinkle’s fondness of foreign cinematography, which is described as “something in German that he found extremely depressing” (Lahiri 147). Sanjev’s attitude and lack of care towards his wife’s interests wider the gap between the couple and make him even more remote, since he is afraid of everything strange and new. Sanjev’s isolation as a symptom of malady of marriage is caused not only by his inability to step outside his comfort zone, but also by his feelings of insecurity about the opinions of other people. Such inaccurate attitude only spreads the tumours of malady, since his excessive interest in other people’s opinions and his need to impress them, only suffocates the understanding between Twinkle and him: ”’Why does it matter to you so much what other people think?” “Twinkle, please’” (Lahiri 147). Even when Sanjev achieves to get the attention in their housewarming party, he is still unable to comprehend the interest of people in him and finds himself even more isolated. “It bewildered Sanjeev that it was for him, and his house, and his wife that they had all gone to so much care” (Lahiri 152). Sanjev’s isolation and his lack of interest in his wife passions disintegrate their young marriage even more. The saddest part is that Sanjev’s detachment is self-imposed and has its roots in his insecurity and inability to step outside his comfort zone, what condemns their marriage to be damaged by not treating the malady properly.

The third symptom of Sanjev’s and Twinkle’s malady of marriage is their breaking down of communication, which causes also their inability to compromise. The failure of communication is an important symptom in their malady of marriage, because when the couple talks regularly, more misunderstandings are avoided and more feelings are not hurt. This incompetency to communicate on proper level only brings their inability to compromise and violates the agreements both of them made, which degrades one of the partners to the lower position. In this case it is usually Sanjev’s, who not only fails to comprehend Twinkle, but also fails to stand up to her and express his opinion. Instead he simply follows her and cleans everything after her with feeling of being deceived by her inability not only to make compromise, but also to maintain the agreement. Such situation is visible through their arrangement that the poster of Christ, which causes Sanjev distress and embarrassment when thinking about the housewarming party, will stay in her study, where it will not be visible for the guests. “’I’ll put it behind the door,” she offered. “That way, when they peek in they won’t see. Happy?’” (Lahiri 139). However, Twinkle’s violation of their agreement during their house party by deliberately showing the poster to each guest only highlights her selfishness and her degrading of Sanjev. Twinkle’s failure to maintain the promise she made to Sanjev reflects her inability to compromise. “’Your friends adore the poster in my study,’ she mentioned to him triumphantly” (Lahiri 152). Such violations to the promised compromise only frustrates Sanjev and gives him little hope in curing the malady which is spreading through their marriage and only builds the wall between them, while they are not being able to compromise and communicate properly. “He was getting nowhere with her, with this woman whom he had known for only four months and whom he had married, this woman with whom he now shared his life” (Lahiri 146). Moreover, the communication breakdown, which is also a source of failing to maintain the compromise, also shows the roles of the partners in their relationship. On the one hand, there is Twinkle’s inability to maintain the compromise and always doing as she wishes to, on the other there is Sanjev who is unable to express his disappointment with Twinkle’s actions and silently adjusts to the situation, which puts him to the subordinate role of the relationship. Even though Twinkle shows no interest in household, Sanjev is incapable to state his opinion or just communicate with her on this matter. Instead he remains in silent obedience and takes over Twinkle’s responsibilities, such as keeping the household in the order or cooking. “She was gone for a good three hours, and so it was Sanjeev who did the rest of the cleaning” (Lahiri 150). These acts of Sanjev’s subordination to Twinkle put him into even more inferior position in their marriage. Even though he does not comprehend her impulsiveness and does not share her interests, he decides to silently follow her lead, which leads to malady of marriage by being unequal and not accepted by the other partner. “Sanjeev pressed the massive silver face to his ribs, careful not to let the feather hat slip, and followed her” (Lahiri 157).

The fourth and last symptom of malady in Sanjev’s and Twinkle’s marriage is their clash of personalities. They are unaware of their contradictory personalities, because of only four months long long-distance courting, which results in their arranged marriage done by their parents.

They had met only four months before. Her parents, who lived in California, and his, who still lived in Calcutta, were old friends, and across continents they had arranged the occasion at which Twinkle and Sanjeev were introduced—a sixteenth birthday party for a daughter in their circle—when Sanjeev was in Palo Alto on business (Lahiri 141).

By their brief weekend visits they do not have time to explore their characters or know each other better. The process of finding more about the partner started when they moved to their house and their characters, which are like fire and water, started to come to the surface. While Sanjev is an insecure introvert, who wants everything in proper order, Twinkle is a careless and impulsive young woman interested in everything, which Sanjev finds disturbing. Even though the story is told from Sanjev’s point of view, his character is shown not by his actions, but by his attitude towards Twinkle behaviour. Sanjev’s uptight and tidy personality is mirrored through his scorn of Twinkle actions, or her inactivity in their household. For example not being able to comprehend the fact that Twinkle is in bed and reading in the middle of day, when there is so much to put in order.

When he asked why she was in bed in the middle of the day she told him she was bored. He had wanted to say to her then, You could unpack some boxes. You could sweep the attic. You could retouch the paint on the bathroom windowsill, and after you do it you could warn me so that I don’t put my watch on it (Lahiri 141).

Sanjev does not understand Twinkle’s spontaneity, which mirrors in every act she does. Both of them have a different perception of the world and these will collide through their whole marriage. While Twinkle does not care for small details such as price of a call, Sanjev likes having everything in order, including the higher price for calls: “He found Twinkle on the telephone, smoking and talking to one of her girlfriends in California even though it was before five o’clock and the long-distance rates were at their peak” (Lahiri 141). She sees the world in different perspective and does not want to follow steps and procedures from the past, such as searching for recipes in cookbook or doing anything that needs rules to do. Twinkle’s carelessness, impulsiveness and the difference between their personalities is illustrated mainly in her cooking the fish stew with the vinegar that Sanjev wanted to throw away.

“How did you make it?”

“I made it up.”

“What did you do?”

“I just put some things into the pot and added the malt vinegar at the end” (Lahiri 144).

Twinkle’s spontaneity mirrors in her not following the recipes for otherwise tasty stew, seems uncomprehending to Sanjev, who keeps following the rules all his life and does not understand the process of not only cooking, but even living without any guiding. Moreover, the inquiry and the astonishment when Twinkle denies writing down the recipe underline their contradictory personalities and their inability to understand each other properly. “Twinkle's assuring Sanjeev that she will be able to remember how to make the soup despite the fact that she has not measured out or written the recipe down suggests a confidence, a sense of self-possession as well as a form of knowledge that he cannot access or comprehend” (Williams 76). The clash of personalities causes failing to comprehend each other and therefore spreading the malady of marriage, which leads and encourages also the switching of roles in this marriage that is visible on the housewarming party. On the hand there is Sanjev, who takes care of the household and guests and on the other, there is Twinkle, who keeps entertaining the company.

Over hectic jazz records, played under Twinkle’s supervision, they laughed at her anecdotes and observations, forming a widening circle around her, while Sanjeev replenished the samosas that he kept warming evenly in the oven, and getting ice for people’s drinks, and opening more bottles of champagne with some difficulty, and explaining for the fortieth time that he wasn’t Christian (Lahiri 152).

The not matching personalities of Twinkle and Sanjev, which were oblivious for both partners before they moved in together leads not only the malady of marriage but eventual switching of gender roles in their household. ”In the relationship, then, there is not only a cultural difference but also a reversal of the conventional gender roles: romance, care, beauty, and girlishness are given as male characteristics whereas curiosity, raucousness, carelessness, and assertiveness are seen as female qualities” (Kuortti). Such contrast in personalities brings also the subordination of one of the partners and in this case it is Sanjev and later his silent acceptance of the roles in marriage. However it may seem that the acceptance is serving the peace and health of the marriage, but if one of the partners is suffering and therefore not happy in the union, this state is described as a malady of marriage caused by clash of personalities symptom.

In conclusion “This Blessed House” represents the spreading malady in a young marriage accompanied by symptoms such as breaking down of communication, unfulfilled expectations in each other and the clashing personalities of Twinkle and Sanjev, who are unable to comprehend each other and make any compromise. This situation causes the submission of one of the partners, in this case Sanjev, who rather stays in his self-imposed comfort isolation, unable to communicate and express his opinions openly than stand up and try to understand the personality and needs of his wife, which could lead to a healthier marriage. Instead Sanjev chooses to silently follow Twinkle’s lead, what makes the marriage more bearable for both of the partners, but not happy and therefore in the state of constant malady.