This Blessed House

I choose to write my interpretation on This Blesses House, because I felt I can relate to this story, and in looking at it even more closely, I can learn more from it. I have recently been in the same situation as Twinkle and Sanjeev are. They just got married and are going trying to adjust to their new life together. My husband and I were married this past June, so I understand some of the “disagreements” Twinkle and Sanjeev have in This Blessed House.
Twinkle and Sanjeev have known each other for about four months. All throughout the story, they are realizing different characteristics of one another that they might have not noticed before. Twinkle is a very go with the flow type of person. She is not worried of what others think of her, and she does not appear to be much of a home maker. Sanjeev on the other hand, pay close attention to detail. He is organized, and is anxious to get their new house unpacked and cleaned up.
Throughout This Blessed House, there is conflict between Sanjeev and Twinkle. Twinkle keeps finding old “Christian decorations” in the house that she likes to put up around the house, but it drives Sanjeev crazy. I believe the story needs an interpretation for some parts, because many people have not yet been in this type of situation. When I first read this story I did not pick up on the different meanings as I did once I studied it. I believe Twinkle and Sanjeev have a communication problem. They need to talk about their problems with one another, and work things out together. I think when people think of marriage, they think happily ever after. They think that right after the wedding everything is going to be perfect. Now, don’t get me wrong…marriage is a beautiful thing, and I love it, but it is also hard work at times.
Every time Twinkle finds something she is set on the fact that she wants it put on the mantle in their house.
““But is could be worth something. Who knows?...It’s pretty.”
“We’re not Christians.”
“No, we’re not Christian. We’re good little Hindus.”
She planted a kiss on top of Christ’s head, then placed the statue on top of the fireplace mantle, which needed, Sanjeev noticed, to be dusted.”
Twinkle does not seem to care what Sanjeev thinks, she always just goes about her own way, and keeps putting up all these decorations. Sanjeev seems to be very irritated, but in the end he doesn’t do anything about it.
Later, while they are getting the house ready for a housewarming party Sanjeev tries to put away some of the decorations.
“I’m going to put it in my study,” she informed him. “that way you don’t have to look at it.”
“What about the housewarming? They’ll want to see all the rooms. I’ve invited people from the office.”
When Sanjeev say this it shows that he is embarrassed by the decorations, and a little bit by Twinkle. No one has ever met Twinkle, and he is starting to get nervous how she will fit in with his friends.
When my husband and I were first moving in, I had all these plans of how I wanted to decorate, and what colors I wanted to paint. It seemed every time I went to buy something, most if it was things we really needed, I had to explain myself to him. Guys just don’t seem to understand that kind of stuff. In my opinion, they just need to let the women take care of it. I would get so frustrated with him, #1 because I wasn’t getting my way, and #2 because it seemed like he was raining on my parade. Although we are not as extreme as Twinkle and Sanjeev, it’s still the same situation.
As I mentioned before, Sanjeev does not do much about Twinkles decorations, even though he says he will. He let it all build up. One night Twinkle was taking a bath when Sanjeev came in and said he was going out to take down one of the decorations from out side and throwing it in the dump tomorrow on his way to work. Of course this made Twinkle upset and she stormed out of the bathroom dripping wet. They argued for a while and once Twinkle was in tears, Sanjeev apologized. Sanjeev want about this all the wrong way. It is not smart to go and tell your wife what you are going to do when you know it will upset her. He needed to communicate with her. Talk to her about it instead of trying to force it on her. A lot of their problems could be solved if they would have better communication.
In our family we joke about how to solve our “marital problems”. My sister-in-law, Katie, and I are very much a like. We look, act, and think the same, and even have the same name. We always say that our husbands, the brothers, need to go to the other Katie and see what she thinks or how she would react to something before going to their wife. Then they could avoid some arguments.
I honestly feel bad for Twinkle. Towards the end of the story, Sanjeev is wondering if he even loves her. I have heard people say that they don’t feel bad for Twinkle because she is crazy and they couldn’t handle her, but Sanjeev put himself in that situation. If he didn’t love her, he shouldn’t have married her. They should have dated longer so they had a chance to know one another before they committed to marriage. I believe that is the hidden message or lesson in this story. People tend to take marriage lightly so often. It is not taken seriously. That is not the way God created it to be.