This Blessed House- A second look

Sanjeev is of Indian decent so he probably has dark hair, eyes, and skin. Aside from this, we are told that he has really long eyelashes and plump cheeks, and is an average build. He is 33 years old. He is currently in charge of 12 employees at an engineering firm in Hartford, Connecticut. There isn't anything in the story that indicates the way that Sanjeev normally dresses. He probably dresses to fit in, though, with the way that he is juxtaposed with Twinkle who wears leopard print heals. Judging by his personality, I can imagine that he is well-put together and cares about what others think, so I don't think he would be a sloppy dresser. We also know that Sanjeev is a graduate of MIT, and that his family still lives in India. I think that he is still more into his Indian roots than Twinkle. He is also probably a good cook and spends his weekends making curry because Twinkle doesn't want to be bothered.

From various incidents in the story, I see Sanjeev as a kind of Jesus character. He marries this girl who is a smoker, doesn't seem to take care of her body, and does whatever she wants, yet he still puts up with her. It's kind of like Christ and the church. He is concerned about her when she screams in the yard because she finds the Madonna statue. Other interesting facts that support this idea is that he has twelve employees under him and he is 33 years old. He also cleans up Twinkle's ashes just as Christ turns our beauty into ashes.

I don't want to go too far with this Christ analogy, though because I also see several flaws in Sanjeev's character. He does get pretty annoyed at Twinkle on several occasions. He wishes that he would have married one of the other suitors that was suggested by his parents. He even wishes that he were taller. He's pretty concerned about the opinions and views of others, and doesn't want people to see all of the Jesus memorabilia that Twinkle holds so dear.

Something that I really appreciate about Sanjeev is that even though he seems quite annoyed on several occasions, he holds his tongue. He doesn't lash out at all of Twinkle's free-spirited moments. When Twinkle finds the poster with the peanut-sized tears, Sanjeev first tells her that it can't stay in their home, but he does let Twinkle compromise. I also thought that it was really adorable that he saved Twinkle's ashes while they were courting until the next time she came to visit. It was like he had to leave a little piece of her with him.

I think that Sanjeev would like a typical Indian marriage where the wife stays at home, cooks and cleans, and basically says yes to everything that he says. At the same time, he is an educated man, and I think that Twinkle is a good challenge for his rigid and analytical personality. She helps him to stop and smell the roses. Although he might miss certain aspects of having a traditional Indian wife, I think it might just make him bored. Staying with Twinkle will be work, but I think she is worth the work because she respects herself, thinks for herself, and has her own educated opinions and ideas about life. Perhaps she can get Sanjeev to not be so stuck in a rut all of the time.