Asian Inspiration: Mindy Kaling

Merry Christmas! Today, we’re stepping out of East Asian roster for Asian Inspiration and heading towards a very special guest, the very wonderfully talented Mindy Kaling!

Vera Mindy Chokalingam, 35, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to two Indian parents. She is perhaps best known for her role as Kelly Kapoor on The Office, and of course as the star and creator of the show, The Mindy Project.

Ladies and Gents, I have seen shrines at NYU dedicated to Mindy Kaling. But up until now, all I knew about her were those two facts. Also, she seemed kind of funny. Let’s get to know her a bit better, together!

Kaling is not just an actress; in fact, she attended Dartmouth College for Playwriting, graduating in 2001. She first joined The Office as a writer–the only woman writer on a staff of eight. The staff later expanded to include more women, and Kaling jumped from writing, to acting, to producing and directing on the show.

And, now that she has her own show, Kaling is still extremely aware of her rare status as a woman in power. In a recent interview with Glamour magazine, Kaling said:

It’s my responsibility to try to encourage groups that don’t get represented. I can’t just hire willy-nilly. It’s important for me to have our eight female writers because my show is about women.

With TV traditionally representing only a few types of people, it’s comforting to know that there are individuals like Kaling who watch out for others. She’s also hilariously funny, as evidenced by her Twitter account with over 3.5 million followers.

And, despite her already incredible success, it’s definitely still not too late to become a Mindy Kaling fan. She has a lot of incredible projects lined up for the future, from her second book (set to come out in spring of 2015), to playing the role of Disgust in the Pixar movie Inside Out, to writing and acting in a short film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt!

Well, Mindy, at the very least you’ve gained one fan in me!

If you want to keep up with Kaling, you can follow her Twitter or Instagram. Have more to add to this post? Reblog OR use our comment system on the page! Otherwise, if you have a suggestion for a future Asian Inspiration, feel free to leave a message in Generasian’s Ask, Twitter, or Facebook!