This Blessed House

This Blessed House by Jhumpa Lhairi left me questioning if I had missed an underlying theme or lesson in the story, what the author was truly trying to get a cross, what the point of this short story was, what the conclusion was, and basically what the story was REALLY about. The story itself was a fast read that kept me engaged to see what was going to happen in the end. However, nothing truly meaningful actually does happen. It feels like it ends abruptly and it left me dissatisfied. 

I found an interesting interview with Jhumpa Lhairi online. I have found that when I read about the authors and little bit more about how the text was originated or what it was inspired by has been quite helpful in “feeling” the story more. Also, I believe respect for the text is also gained.

Jhumpa Lhairi was raised in America by her parents who were Indian immigrants. In her interview, she talks about how as a result of being a daughter of Indian immigrants, she struggled with a strong sense of alienation, desiring knowledge of a lost world, confusion about belongingness, and questions of identity. This is why many of her stories are either set in India or America or based on Indian people or American people. 

One of the questions in the interview was stated, “You write frequently from the male point of view. Why?” She began explaining how because she did not have any brothers and so she did not understand the male species very well. They seemed to be a mystery and she was curious. I suppose expressing her ideas about a male perspective is helped her explore this mystery. She said that “This Blessed House” was the first story that she had ever written from a male perspective. She described it as exhilarating and liberating and a challenge. This first experience inspired her to write many more from the male perspective. 

After learning that, I thought it was interesting to go back to the story and see how the text was her effort to imagine what a man would be thinking in that situation. I found Najeef’s little remarks about what annoyed him about Twinkle was comical. She showed how husbands most often do not understand the little things that their wife will find amusing or be interested in, but they simply just learn how to accept that as part of who we are and love them anyway.