Since a young Indian writer Jhumpa Lahiri released her first book "Interpreter of Maladies," the author and her book's characters have attracted a lot of attention. The nine stories of the "Interpreter of Maladies" are filled with details of Indian culture which help the author to present the life of Indians living in America in a new sophisticated manner and assist Lahiri in her attempt to reveal earlier unfamiliar to many people aspects of the everyday lives of the Indian immigrants. In the story "Sexy" we see Dev, a first generation Indian American who has a family, but in spite of that fact initiates an affair on the side. In his search for fascination in life Dev gets involved in a relationship with Miranda, a young and pretty American woman who is looking for someone to share her lonely nights with. The main obstacle keeping mischievous Dev from keeping such a comfortable relationship alive is his selfish attitude towards Miranda, who still feels alone and suffers from being used to satisfy Dev's need for an adventure. The character of the story "This Blessed House" Sanjeev has married the wrong woman whom he has little in common with. Sanjeev's prime motivation seems to be his desire for a normal family life with a traditional wife who would share the same conservative beliefs as himself. But in his attempt to make his family the way he wants it Sanjeev faces a conflict between his hidden desire to be with a modern woman and his need for a proper traditional Indian wife. Both of them, Dev and Sanjeev, strive to change their lives, one towards excitement, another towards stability. Nevertheless, both meet with the difficulties which they do not know how to overcome. Does Jhumpa Lahiri want to say that this problem is common for many Indian men in America?
The first character's motivation in general can be described as a search for love, but not for love in the ordinary meaning: he is looking for a passionate, adventurous and in some ways dangerous relationship. He clearly wants to interact with this woman in a way absolutely different from what he is used to. Dev's wife is Indian and an affair with a young beautiful American woman seems exciting to him. "...he left her a message every evening at at five-thirty, when she was on a T coming back to her apartment, just so, he said, she could hear his voice as soon as she walked through the door. "I'm thinking about you," he'd say on the tape. "I can't wait to see you." Miranda is as a fresh breeze from a distant sea where Dev has never been before, and everything related to her is a change,-- and this is what he is looking for. Unlike his wife, Miranda has no idea about his culture and his country, and that is also unusual to him. While Dev's wife is away, he is curious and thrilled about his secret relationship just like a little kid would get excited about a new toy. Dev and Miranda are both exotic to each other: she admires his unique culture and she is the opposite of his wife for him (pale skin, silver eyes and longest legs he has ever seen: "You are the first," he told her, admiring her from the bed. "The first woman I've known with legs this long."). However, once Dev's wife returns from India he can not spend as much time with Miranda as he would like. His behavior leaves Miranda no doubt as to what he really wanted from her -- passion and adventure outside of his marriage. He was concerned about nothing else.
The obstacle to their relationship continuing is Dev's attitude towards his secret relationship with Miranda. From the very beginning of his involvement with Miranda he does not take their meetings seriously. He treats her in a manner that is often seen in fast, passionate and superficial relationships like theirs, which tend to be short term. After a certain period of time such relationships usually fall apart and the ex-partners return to their regular lives. After his wife's return Dev spends less time with Miranda, and it is not surprising -- his life is full of family responsibilities which are much more important to him. In spite of the Miranda's struggle to win back his attention by wearing sexy clothes, he cares less and less about things like that. "The first Sunday she opened the door in the knee-length robe, but Dev did not even notice it; he cared her over to the bed, wearing sweatpants and sneakers, and entered her without a word." Now he wanted from her only what his traditional marriage did not let him have, the rest of his life he was happy with and was not going to change it for Miranda. Through his acts Dev proves how selfish he is. Partially because of this and also because Miranda realizes that their relationship can not make both of them and people close to them unhappy, she decides to stop seeing Dev. Weeks after weeks of Miranda not willing to meet him put an end to Dev's fascinating love adventure letting him free for a new search.
The second character, Sanjeev, also is looking for love in his life. He wants a traditional house with a loving wife and everything else that a person should have. When Sanjeev first meets his future wife Twinkle it seems that they have a lot in common. Since their parents approve of them, Sanjeev thinks that they would be a good match. However, when the couple moves into their new house Sanjeev starts to notice that he does not like many things about Twinkle which did not bother him before. Before he met Twinkle he felt alone and needed someone who would change the way his life was:
... returning to an empty carpeted condominium each night, and using only the top fork in the cutlery drawer, and turning away politely at those weekend dinner parties when the other men eventually put their arms around the waists of their wives and girlfriends, leaning over every now and again to kiss their shoulders and necks.
But Sanjeev is not sure if he made the right choice marrying Twinkle. Moreover, spontaneous Twinkle starts to irritate him, the reason being her irrational living by the moment. At first, Twinkle's careless personality attracts him by its originality and impulsive freshness, but later his desire for an ordinary quiet life takes over his interest in the unplanned and chaotic lifestyle Twinkle brought into his house. Many times he tries to convince his wife that those Christian statuettes are inappropriate in their Indian house, but she did not even try to consider his position on this matter. Even after these arguments Sanjeev does not give up his hope that maybe their marriage could still work. He does not bring up the topic again but neither throws away her Christian paraphernalia. The final realization that she is not the kind of wife he wants her to be comes to Sanjeev at their housewarming party.
The music had ended and he could hear, if he concentrated the hum of the refrigerator, and the rustle of the last leaves on the trees outside With one flick of his hand he could snap the ladder back on its spring into the ceiling, and they would have no way of getting down unless he were to pull the chain and let them... He thought of all the things he could do, undisturbed.
Sanjeev feels as alone as before when he was living by himself in a small apartment -- a stranger at any party, alone and with no one to stand by his side reaching to hug him. Sanjeev's desire to be loved and to have the kind of a traditional family he always dreamed of leaves him disappointed and irritated. The conflict that holds Sanjeev from achieving his goal to find love and to be loved springs from the great difference between him and his wife that make him uncomfortable and incompatible with her. Even though Sanjeev is attracted to her at first, Twinkle does not fit his standards for a perfect wife: good housekeeper, always by his side, quiet and traditional in views, who would have some modern features, but not many. Instead he chose a wife who is "a pretty one, from a suitable high caste, who would soon have a master's degree." One gets the impression that it is impossible for Sanjeev to find a wife that would fit him in a sense of Indian traditions and that would also make him happy.
These two men seem to be the victims of the traditional Indian culture, which limits their search for love only to Indian women who often can not give them what they are looking for, and which turns them into unhappy and discontented people. Dev is definitely the successful character: he has a few weeks of a thrilling relationship that he enjoyed. Sanjeev, on the other hand, is less fortunate. He is not able to find a wife that fits his expectations and consequently is considered a dramatic character who could not accomplish his prior aspiration.
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