Religious Distance in "This Blessed House"

Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories that encompasses quite a lot of themes, many of which are religious. In the story, "This Blessed House," the characters deal with religious identity and distance.

The characters in the story, Twinkle and Sanjeev, have just been married, though they have only known each other for a few months. The distance between them is evident from the start, since they are basically strangers that have been forced to live in the house together. While they are both Indian and Hindu, Twinkle is alone in being charmed by the Christian objects that she finds around the house. As Twinkle continues to find the objects, she becomes attached. In the meantime, Sanjeev becomes more and more detached from his wife. While Christianity fascinates Twinkle, it alienates and somewhat angers Sanjeev. As a foreign religion becomes more and more a part of their lives, their relationship is stressed and they become distant from each other.

Perhaps Lahiri is expressing her own struggle with being a Hindu in America. Christianity is such an ubiquitous topic in America, and Sanjeev feels like a stranger in his own home because it keeps popping up and invading his life.