This Blessed House by Jhumpa Lahiri, 1999
The magic trick:
A funny story that actually is quite specific and quite sad
In which Lahiri veers her Interpreter Of Maladies collection into comedy.
But only kind of.
It is funny. A newly married Indian-American couple have moved into a new house in Connecticut. It’s not an arranged marriage. But it’s not not an arranged marriage. The couple, introduced by their parents, dated for four months before the wedding.
So there is something inherently awkward – and, yes, funny – about watching them find their way together with completely different approaches toward embracing the West. Crucially, the story pokes fun at both characters at times without really pointing a finger at anyone.
But it’s also just a very sad story. Because the story doesn’t assign blame on either Sanjeev or Twinkle, the reader is sympathetic to both, and we leave the story highly concerned that this marriage simply might not make it.
And that’s quite a trick on Lahiri’s part.
The selection:
“Twinkle, I can’t have the people I work with see this statue on my lawn.”
“They can’t fine you for being a believer. It would be discrimination.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Why does it matter to you so much what other people think?”
“Twinkle, please.” He was tired. He let his weight rest against his rake as she began dragging the statue toward an oval bed of myrtle, beside the lamppost that flanked the brick pathway. “Look, Sanj. She’s so lovely.”
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