She is twenty-seven years old, of Indian descent (her parents live in Calcutta), a former English major now pursuing a masters in studying an Irish poet, and although the story says Sanjeev thinks she is pretty, the way the characters interact with her make me think she's very beautiful.
One of the first things I noticed about her was her childlike ways. The author makes this rather obvious, describing her young face, which "had not grown out of its girlhood, the eyes untroubled, the pleasing features unfirmed..." and sponteneous antics, "She dragged him to a tiny bookshop on St. Mark's Place, where she browsed for nearly an hour, and when they left she insisted that they dance a tango on the sidewalk in front of strangers." But I also noticed the childishness in the way that she spoke.
"It's pretty."
"But I do nothing all day except sit at my desk."
"Each day is like a treasure hunt. I'm serious."
"I will, I promise."
"No, silly Sanj."
"I hate you."
"Who cares?"
She wears bright colors, "a yellow chenile sweater", "...her salwaar kameez, which was the shade of persimmon...", and demonstrates creativity in accessorizing, "the little string of white rose petals she had coiled cleverly around her head..." which leads the reader to believe even more that she has a bright and whimsical personality.
But is Twinkle really childish? I noticed some other things in the story that made me ponder.
While she and Sanjeev are arguing, she often ignores things he says that could be taken as offensive "digs."
"'Clearly the scheme has succeeded in your case.' She disregarded him, shaking the little plastic dome so that the snow swirled over the manger."
She often appears "placid" or "strangely at peace" when it would be understandable for her to be upset.
"'Now, look. I will tolerate, for a while, your little biblical menagerie in the living room, but...I refuse to have this...displayed in our home.' Twinkle stared at him, placidly exhaling, the smoke emerging in two thin blue streams from her nostrils. She rolled up the poster slowly..."
It would have been very childlike to fight back with harsh words and whining, but instead she either doesn't say anything, or informs Sanjeev calmly about what she's going to do.
However, the story also mentions the two bickering about unimportant things, like high heels. At this point Twinkle protests, but in a non-threatening, non-offensive way.
Instead of displaying immaturity, could it be that Twinkle's spontenaity, her flitting this way and that (like leaving the house for three hours and buying scented candels instead of cleaning), and giggly nature is some sort of subconcious mask? I mentioned before that I thought Twinkle was searching for more than trinkets, and I still think so.
She appears to be a very affectionate toward Sanjeev. The story mentions that she squeezes Sanjeev's elbow or knee often. I think she wants to be loved. She was reading Sonnets in the bathtub when Sanjeev approached her to tell her about his decision regarding the statue (when she later cried into his shirt). While this may be considered a "normal" thing for someone studying literature to do, I think that that particular text is relevant to the story, and her character.
Also in this scene, Twinkle "lost it". She threw on her bathrobe and acted as though she was going to leave, with a face mask and all, and seemed uncontrollably emotional for a moment. She even told Sanjeev she hated him. I'm not sure how to interpret this, but her quick recovery still makes me think she isn't so childish as she seems.
A quote that stood out to me was this: "Why do you care so much about what other people think?" I don't think Twinkle cares much about what other people think, which is interesting, because everyone seems to be attracted to her. I think she would like to be herself, but I'm not sure she knows exactly who that is.
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