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Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) #1
Kind of Hindu
What if only kind of knowing your family’s heritage is actually kind of lame? For Mindy Kaling, the number one bestselling author of Why Not Me?, the search for an answer begins with an Edible Arrangement of chocolate-covered strawberries and a Hindu priest.
Like Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy is engaged with her Indian heritage to the extent that it is fun and convenient. So apart from a tolerance for spicy foods and an appreciation for Ravi Shankar, Mindy isn’t all that Hindu. Her daughter’s Jewish godfather—TV and film’s B.J. Novak—prompts her to reconsider her religious beliefs and ask herself: How Indian do I want my daughter to be?
From the acclaimed writer, actor, director, producer, and New York Times bestselling author comes Nothing Like I Imagined. In these essays, Mindy Kaling shares the latest chapters of a multitasking life in Hollywood. Read or listen to them in a single setting. Either way, they’re pitch-perfect.
Like Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy is engaged with her Indian heritage to the extent that it is fun and convenient. So apart from a tolerance for spicy foods and an appreciation for Ravi Shankar, Mindy isn’t all that Hindu. Her daughter’s Jewish godfather—TV and film’s B.J. Novak—prompts her to reconsider her religious beliefs and ask herself: How Indian do I want my daughter to be?
From the acclaimed writer, actor, director, producer, and New York Times bestselling author comes Nothing Like I Imagined. In these essays, Mindy Kaling shares the latest chapters of a multitasking life in Hollywood. Read or listen to them in a single setting. Either way, they’re pitch-perfect.
17 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 6, 2020
2173 people are currently reading
13400 people want to read
About the author
Mindy Kaling
31 books251k followersMindy Kaling is an actor, writer, producer, and director. She currently stars in the Hulu original comedy series “The Mindy Project," which she also writes and executive produces.
Before "The Mindy Project," Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show “The Office.” In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, Mindy wrote 18 episodes of the series, including the Emmy nominated episode “Niagra.”
In 2011, Mindy penned the comedic memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns), which continues to be featured on New York Times’ and USA Today’s best-seller lists. Mindy’s second memoir Why Not Me? was released in September 2015 and launched at #1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list.
In 2005, Mindy made her film debut as the object of Paul Rudd's unwanted affections in Judd Apatow’s THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. Most recently, Mindy lent her voice to the character Disgust in the Oscar-winning Pixar animated film INSIDE OUT alongside Amy Poehler and Bill Hader, and was seen in THE NIGHT BEFORE alongside Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She will next begin production on OCEAN’S 8 alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway.
Mindy was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. In 2014, she was named one of Glamour’s women of the year.
Before "The Mindy Project," Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show “The Office.” In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, Mindy wrote 18 episodes of the series, including the Emmy nominated episode “Niagra.”
In 2011, Mindy penned the comedic memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns), which continues to be featured on New York Times’ and USA Today’s best-seller lists. Mindy’s second memoir Why Not Me? was released in September 2015 and launched at #1 on the New York Times’ best-seller list.
In 2005, Mindy made her film debut as the object of Paul Rudd's unwanted affections in Judd Apatow’s THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. Most recently, Mindy lent her voice to the character Disgust in the Oscar-winning Pixar animated film INSIDE OUT alongside Amy Poehler and Bill Hader, and was seen in THE NIGHT BEFORE alongside Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She will next begin production on OCEAN’S 8 alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway.
Mindy was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2012. In 2014, she was named one of Glamour’s women of the year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 677 reviews
December 26, 2023
Mindy Kaling is discussing about traditions and culture in this book. Cultural shock and cultural differences are very complicated topics all immigrants have to face in their life. Their success in life abroad is mainly determined by how they tackle this complex situation
My favorite three lines from this book.
“The reason I’m Kind of Hindu and will raise my daughter to be Kind of Hindu is to have this connection deep inside my own heart to other people who look like us and have shared key experiences, thousands of miles away. I don’t have to be full-on religious, and I doubt I’ll ever be knowledgeable enough to satisfy her or my curiosity about our faith, but I’m really going to try.”
“Culturally and religiously, I live my life like a secular American, except when I’m out with friends at an Indian restaurant and I feel uniquely qualified to order our meal.”
“We plucked what worked for us from both of their experiences and then adopted American culture and traditions that seemed fun and festive too.”
With her inherent sense of humor, Mindy Kaling beautifully describes what it means to be a Hindu to her and how she tackled the cultural differences she faced in the US.
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November 10, 2020
This book, fine enough, is a story about Mindy Kaling thinking about Hinduism. It conflates being Indian with being Hindu, and helps to cement ideas of Hindutva through ignorance and to (likely) a majority western audience with a lack of understanding of India outside of ~spicy food and colourful clothes~
January 4, 2021
This book is very relatable for anyone that is stuck between two cultures and they are having children. How much do you want them to be apart of your heritage/culture? That is a question many parents struggle with.
"What if only kind of knowing your family’s heritage is actually kind of lame? For Mindy Kaling, the number one bestselling author of Why Not Me?, the search for an answer begins with an Edible Arrangement of chocolate-covered strawberries and a Hindu priest.
Like Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy is engaged with her Indian heritage to the extent that it is fun and convenient. So apart from a tolerance for spicy foods and an appreciation for Ravi Shankar, Mindy isn’t all that Hindu. Her daughter’s Jewish godfather—TV and film’s B.J. Novak—prompts her to reconsider her religious beliefs and ask herself: How Indian do I want my daughter to be?"
"What if only kind of knowing your family’s heritage is actually kind of lame? For Mindy Kaling, the number one bestselling author of Why Not Me?, the search for an answer begins with an Edible Arrangement of chocolate-covered strawberries and a Hindu priest.
Like Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy is engaged with her Indian heritage to the extent that it is fun and convenient. So apart from a tolerance for spicy foods and an appreciation for Ravi Shankar, Mindy isn’t all that Hindu. Her daughter’s Jewish godfather—TV and film’s B.J. Novak—prompts her to reconsider her religious beliefs and ask herself: How Indian do I want my daughter to be?"
November 26, 2020
I absolutely adore everything Mindy Kaling puts out, everything from books, tv-shows to audiobooks so it wasn´t really a surprised that I loved this as well. Funny, touching and well written. The only downside is the fact that this could´ve been part of one book with essays instead of publishing it separately.
October 9, 2020
Cute story about Mindy trying to decide how much religion she wanted to have and that she wanted her daughter to have and her connection to her mom, who has passed away. Told in her usual funny, acerbic way.
October 11, 2020
We've been watching the Mindy Project (a rewatch for me, first time for my husband) so when I saw this series of six essays by Mindy Kaling it was an obvious download. The Kindle version is free to Amazon Prime members and after you download them you can access the audio free as well. Obviously I listened to this in audio read by the author - it's about exploring her religious heritage once she became a mother. (Did you know she had a second child September 2nd?) This one was short - 21 minutes - and I'm looking forward to the other five.
October 13, 2020
This was so relatable and delivered perfectly with Mindy Kaling's humor. I listened to the audiobooks for this entire series, which is narrated by Mindy Kaling. I absolutely loved it! This is a great series of memoir-style essays that are fun, yet still thought-provoking. This first one is about Mindy re-evaluating her religious thoughts/practices after having her daughter. It has to be my favorite of the series! 4.75 stars
August 2, 2021
Mindy Kaling makes me laugh, so I jumped at the chance at reading her book! Even if it seems like the world's shortest book....
This story is all about her being Hindu, yet not a strong practicting one. It is also about her struggle to decide how to raise her daughter.
It may have been short, but I laughed whilst reading as you can clearly hear her voice coming through. Definitely the best 15 minutes of my day!
This story is all about her being Hindu, yet not a strong practicting one. It is also about her struggle to decide how to raise her daughter.
It may have been short, but I laughed whilst reading as you can clearly hear her voice coming through. Definitely the best 15 minutes of my day!
October 23, 2020
Very informative
This was very informative and fun. It was interesting to see a Kind of Hindus perspective on the religion and traditions and how her life is different and also the same from most Americans.
This was very informative and fun. It was interesting to see a Kind of Hindus perspective on the religion and traditions and how her life is different and also the same from most Americans.
January 29, 2022
Short, Sweet, and Funny
Such a cute short story. It was sweet, funny, and highly relatable. Super quick read. Can’t wait to read all her stories.
4.5 🌟
Such a cute short story. It was sweet, funny, and highly relatable. Super quick read. Can’t wait to read all her stories.
4.5 🌟
October 8, 2020
Mindy Kaling has another book (or collection of short stories) out. What?! As soon as I heard, I immediately went and got it (it's available for free for Kindle Unlimited users) and read as I listened along to her narrating it, and it did not disappoint! This first story is about Mindy trying to decide how she wants to raise her daughter (who is 8 months old here) because she herself is just "kind of Hindu". Then she decides to have her daughter's head shaved for Mundan (Indian ritual of shaving babies' heads to remove negativity of a past life). Of course, she narrates this whole thing with her usual humor, and I enjoyed it! Okay, on to the next!
October 12, 2020
The general review: a series of essays that don't quite add up to the length of her two prior outings, each bite is nevertheless a nice look into Mindy Kaling's life and thoughts. She's been more or less a part of the pop culture landscape since The Office, which is a long time, and her works are worth reading.
EDITED: to fix some unnecessarily snarky commentary in the middle with some more nuanced thoughts that get across my actual point without distracting petty BS.
BOY did I roll my eyes SO HARD at this, such that I was worried they'd never come back. You mean to tell me that when people have children they get concerned with their culture and heritage and what they're going to pass down??? REALLY??
Joking aside, Mindy Kaling continues to occupy a very interesting place in the desi diaspora. She's both the most visible South Asian actress/Hollywood person and very clearly not that South Asian. For the vast majority of South Asians who grew up a little more holistically/forcibly integrated(?) with their backgrounds, she's this begrudging member of our team, because she's always been clear that she doesn't actually play for us*. It's just the way of the white (male) dominant narrative that sticks us together.
* an aside that I'm sure that it would have been a super complex interaction. The Ganesh Puja scene in Never Have I Ever is very interesting in this regard, the interplay between the more-white Indian person interacting with the very-Indian person and the wasn't-Indian-but-now-is
I think her outfit on the cover of this is a great example of how Mindy is but isn't, and how in being so she's missing out on some truly cool overlapping interests. Her outfit on this cover is...not what I consider Mindy-level Indian clothes. This is the woman who opened my eyes to the realities of hair extensions (everyone wears them all the time! don't feel bad about your hair!) and literally changed my life by telling me that she gets everything tailored. Now I get everything tailored and my $10 thrift store dress looks like a million bucks. And yet, instead of going with something trendy, fashionable, colorful, Mindy's wearing...a beige-colored short salwar top that she might have borrowed from the spare bedroom closet in my parents' house, where it's been since 2000. She's Mindy Kaling! If she'd asked, I would have immediately directed her to Papa Don't Preach by Shubhika or holiCHIC by Megha, like off the top of my head. Both of these designers would have been all over dressing her, and they have aesthetics that are so very Mindy (colors and patterns and cool cuts!).
SO I'm not critiquing her outfit to be petty but because, like, as always it's a reminder that Mindy represents a different track. It's one that all South Asians should be free to take--that of engagement with their history on their own terms, with a focus on their specific upbringing and the future they want to build.
Or should they? I struggle sometimes myself with the narrative of "the only answer to 'have you been discriminated against because of your race' is 'yes' or 'i don't know.'" In a white country, do you have the flexibility of being an authentic person without accepting your cultural identity?
All in all, Mindy gets to parts of this in her story, and then basically comes to that point in the end--she wants to be Kind of Hindu because that's what'll give her and her daughter belonging and feeling. I suppose I wish that like all men of daughters who realize they are feminists she'd have realized that sooner.
EDITED: to fix some unnecessarily snarky commentary in the middle with some more nuanced thoughts that get across my actual point without distracting petty BS.
BOY did I roll my eyes SO HARD at this, such that I was worried they'd never come back. You mean to tell me that when people have children they get concerned with their culture and heritage and what they're going to pass down??? REALLY??
Joking aside, Mindy Kaling continues to occupy a very interesting place in the desi diaspora. She's both the most visible South Asian actress/Hollywood person and very clearly not that South Asian. For the vast majority of South Asians who grew up a little more holistically/forcibly integrated(?) with their backgrounds, she's this begrudging member of our team, because she's always been clear that she doesn't actually play for us*. It's just the way of the white (male) dominant narrative that sticks us together.
* an aside that I'm sure that it would have been a super complex interaction. The Ganesh Puja scene in Never Have I Ever is very interesting in this regard, the interplay between the more-white Indian person interacting with the very-Indian person and the wasn't-Indian-but-now-is
I think her outfit on the cover of this is a great example of how Mindy is but isn't, and how in being so she's missing out on some truly cool overlapping interests. Her outfit on this cover is...not what I consider Mindy-level Indian clothes. This is the woman who opened my eyes to the realities of hair extensions (everyone wears them all the time! don't feel bad about your hair!) and literally changed my life by telling me that she gets everything tailored. Now I get everything tailored and my $10 thrift store dress looks like a million bucks. And yet, instead of going with something trendy, fashionable, colorful, Mindy's wearing...a beige-colored short salwar top that she might have borrowed from the spare bedroom closet in my parents' house, where it's been since 2000. She's Mindy Kaling! If she'd asked, I would have immediately directed her to Papa Don't Preach by Shubhika or holiCHIC by Megha, like off the top of my head. Both of these designers would have been all over dressing her, and they have aesthetics that are so very Mindy (colors and patterns and cool cuts!).
SO I'm not critiquing her outfit to be petty but because, like, as always it's a reminder that Mindy represents a different track. It's one that all South Asians should be free to take--that of engagement with their history on their own terms, with a focus on their specific upbringing and the future they want to build.
Or should they? I struggle sometimes myself with the narrative of "the only answer to 'have you been discriminated against because of your race' is 'yes' or 'i don't know.'" In a white country, do you have the flexibility of being an authentic person without accepting your cultural identity?
All in all, Mindy gets to parts of this in her story, and then basically comes to that point in the end--she wants to be Kind of Hindu because that's what'll give her and her daughter belonging and feeling. I suppose I wish that like all men of daughters who realize they are feminists she'd have realized that sooner.
December 25, 2020
I'm slowly making my way through the free Mindy Kaling Amazon essays. They are interesting and I've always liked her writing, but it's not quite the same caliber as her books. Perhaps it's the short length or my own ingrained disdain for novellas where I always want more from the author, but it's not the same. I learned a lot about Hinduism and its traditions. It was sweet to see Mindy pass to her daughter what she experienced with her own family. I also didn't like the very subtle digs to Christianity but that's just me being a sensitive sponge finding derision in a throwaway line. I'll continue with the collection because it's free and easy additions to a Goodreads goal.
April 27, 2021
Religion is not a subject that weighed heavily on Kaling's mind . . . until her daughter was born.
Now, well . . .
Even if I don't exactly care if my daughter is Hindu, I definitely don't want her to be some other religion..
Kaling takes a breezy and brief tour of her upbringing to decide whether or not to put her child through a religious ceremony called "mundan."
This made for a fun, quick lunchtime read.
Now, well . . .
Even if I don't exactly care if my daughter is Hindu, I definitely don't want her to be some other religion..
Kaling takes a breezy and brief tour of her upbringing to decide whether or not to put her child through a religious ceremony called "mundan."
This made for a fun, quick lunchtime read.
November 29, 2020
This is part of a collection of essays and I'm going to give it an overall rating of 3.5 rounded up to 4.
I listened to these on audio book and Mindy Kaling comes across as extremely personable and funny. It felt like i was listening to a friend tell me about her weekend.
I listened to these on audio book and Mindy Kaling comes across as extremely personable and funny. It felt like i was listening to a friend tell me about her weekend.
October 7, 2020
I love Mindy Kaling. Not only was she an excellent writer and Kelly on The Office, but I enjoyed her Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? very much. She is so real and down to earth.
In this first installment she talks about motherhood and how your own faith can become very important when you think about the fact that you are responsible for your child's beliefs. At least the formation. That doesn't sound particularly funny, but Kaling makes it so.
In this first installment she talks about motherhood and how your own faith can become very important when you think about the fact that you are responsible for your child's beliefs. At least the formation. That doesn't sound particularly funny, but Kaling makes it so.
July 29, 2021
I love this actress! So of course I’m going to read her books. This book is funny and so real. Glitz brought to earth with religion. A quick read, like an excellent cookie and tea break.
August 15, 2022
This is the first audiobook I have been able to complete, partly because of its length and partly because Mindy Kaling is a good narrator. She is witty so it was entertaining, and her personal story about connection to her roots was interesting. However, there were many ideas and comments that I thought were problematic and that did not sit right with me. Also, Indian is not synonymous with Hindu!!!!
October 7, 2020
The Mundan Story is hilarious 😂😂😂
Amazon prime users, you can read this for free. It's less than 20 pages and worth your time.
A quote: "To get it over with faster, I had not asked Angela to clean up after shaving, so Kit’s poor hair was still patchy and uneven. In her little Indian dress, she looked like a demented Princess Jasmine who had escaped from an insane asylum."🤣🤣🤣🤣
Amazon prime users, you can read this for free. It's less than 20 pages and worth your time.
A quote: "To get it over with faster, I had not asked Angela to clean up after shaving, so Kit’s poor hair was still patchy and uneven. In her little Indian dress, she looked like a demented Princess Jasmine who had escaped from an insane asylum."🤣🤣🤣🤣
October 9, 2020
Nothing Like I Imagined
Since this is a collection of quick personal essays I’ve decided to review them all in one swoop anthology style.
Please Like Me (But Keep Away) - 4 Stars - This essay reviews the time when Mindy moved to LA to write for the office and had to find/make friends as an adult. A most daunting task indeed. She speaks of wanting a close group of girlfriends and even her experience in trying to join one and of how she somehow ended up with a male BFF. Making new friends as an adult is something I’ve yet to really be able to do though I will see my efforts have been less than minimal. I love my current tight knit friend group however I find being the only single, childless one to be alienating and I think it’s unfair to put more demands on their time than they already have but finding new people who I can demand spend time with is very difficult. I’ve said before that Mindy seems familiar and in this essay I see myself.
Kind of Hindu - 4.5 Stars - Something I’ve never considered about parenthood (because I haven’t had to) is religion. I’m sure as a member of a dominant religion I wouldn’t bat an eye at raising my child in a christian faith but what if said imaginary child had a father who was of a different faith. What would I do? So many questions that my mind starts to spin and I’ll save you the downward cycle but it’s an important responsibility. The story of her daughter’s Mundan ceremony is humorous from the outside but I’m sure traumatizing for both mama and daughter… and hair stylist. This is the kind of gem I’m happy she shared with the world. I feel like I learned something not only personal but cultural.
Help Is On the Way - 4 Stars - Admitting you need help is one of the hardest things to do as an adult. We make decisions and we feel like we should be able to handle the repercussions of these decisions. We follow the example our parents gave us and think we should be able to do it too. That is why Mindy struggles so hard with the decision of hiring a baby nurse. It’s nothing her mother would have done. It is nothing she was culturally raised to do but it turned out to be one of the best experiences of her life.
Searching for Coach Taylor - 4 Stars - In this essay we explore single parent pity and what it means to have a husband or partner. Mindy handles it with her trademark wit and grace but makes some other really great points about the things you give up or have to negotiate about too.
Once Upon a Time in Silver Lake - 3 Stars - A short, weird tale of a night out with her best friend BJ. I’m not sure what we are supposed to derive from the story. It a good party antidote though.
Big Shot - 4 Stars - Mindy shares a lesson she learned about generosity and expecting gratitude. She gives her readers endless curiosity over who “Max Davis” really is. She also shares a day in her life as a kind of bonus essay.
Wow the quality of these reviews really diminish. LOL
Since this is a collection of quick personal essays I’ve decided to review them all in one swoop anthology style.
Please Like Me (But Keep Away) - 4 Stars - This essay reviews the time when Mindy moved to LA to write for the office and had to find/make friends as an adult. A most daunting task indeed. She speaks of wanting a close group of girlfriends and even her experience in trying to join one and of how she somehow ended up with a male BFF. Making new friends as an adult is something I’ve yet to really be able to do though I will see my efforts have been less than minimal. I love my current tight knit friend group however I find being the only single, childless one to be alienating and I think it’s unfair to put more demands on their time than they already have but finding new people who I can demand spend time with is very difficult. I’ve said before that Mindy seems familiar and in this essay I see myself.
Kind of Hindu - 4.5 Stars - Something I’ve never considered about parenthood (because I haven’t had to) is religion. I’m sure as a member of a dominant religion I wouldn’t bat an eye at raising my child in a christian faith but what if said imaginary child had a father who was of a different faith. What would I do? So many questions that my mind starts to spin and I’ll save you the downward cycle but it’s an important responsibility. The story of her daughter’s Mundan ceremony is humorous from the outside but I’m sure traumatizing for both mama and daughter… and hair stylist. This is the kind of gem I’m happy she shared with the world. I feel like I learned something not only personal but cultural.
Help Is On the Way - 4 Stars - Admitting you need help is one of the hardest things to do as an adult. We make decisions and we feel like we should be able to handle the repercussions of these decisions. We follow the example our parents gave us and think we should be able to do it too. That is why Mindy struggles so hard with the decision of hiring a baby nurse. It’s nothing her mother would have done. It is nothing she was culturally raised to do but it turned out to be one of the best experiences of her life.
Searching for Coach Taylor - 4 Stars - In this essay we explore single parent pity and what it means to have a husband or partner. Mindy handles it with her trademark wit and grace but makes some other really great points about the things you give up or have to negotiate about too.
Once Upon a Time in Silver Lake - 3 Stars - A short, weird tale of a night out with her best friend BJ. I’m not sure what we are supposed to derive from the story. It a good party antidote though.
Big Shot - 4 Stars - Mindy shares a lesson she learned about generosity and expecting gratitude. She gives her readers endless curiosity over who “Max Davis” really is. She also shares a day in her life as a kind of bonus essay.
Wow the quality of these reviews really diminish. LOL
November 16, 2022
A short, charming story of Mindy Kaling's experience of growing up in an open society with cultures all over the world melding into each other into something unique - sometimes for the better, and sometimes not so much. I can't help but laugh at the prospect a Mundana (or Chudakarana), the spotlight of the story, somehow being infinitely more formidable of an event to digest compared to circumcision, which only goes to show the traditionally American lens every other non-white American's traditions are looked at, judged and stereotyped.
Mindy's story begins after the birth of her daughter where she's muddled as to what kind of cultural environment to bring her child up in. She had long lost the bona fide traditions of her people and up to that point, engaged in frivolous adoption of Hindu aesthetics to stand out or "represent" her ethnic inheritance. It reflected a need to present an exotic version of herself to stand out in a multicultural-but-white society. When the time came to tonsure her child, it forced her to reckon with the kind of Hinduism she practices and decide how she would want to raise the baby as a continuity of their Indian root. "Kind of Hindu" is the road she opted for, not because she had a philosophical attachment to it but because it encapsulated rightly her culture of origin and served as a link to a heritage separated by time and space. Hinduism is a lot more than 'tolerating spicy food' and tonsures and this realisation along with the understanding she may not have all the answers for her child gave the author the right direction to look towards.
When cultures interact with each other, it presents the opportunity for the individual to pick and choose the traditions they feel viable to follow earnestly, some on certain occasions and others to the lower-most drawer you promise you'll clean up one day but never get to. Having said that, how much of foreign culture is simply used as a tool to present one's self as 'exotic' or 'different'? Do we own a culture more by simply being born into it as opposed to those who have adopted and internalised it? Due to the power imbalance in the world, the topic of ethnicity and culture will always raise vociferous objections from people who find they are being taken for everything they have while left with poverty and exclusion while fighting off racist stereotypes imposed by the dominant group.
Mindy's story begins after the birth of her daughter where she's muddled as to what kind of cultural environment to bring her child up in. She had long lost the bona fide traditions of her people and up to that point, engaged in frivolous adoption of Hindu aesthetics to stand out or "represent" her ethnic inheritance. It reflected a need to present an exotic version of herself to stand out in a multicultural-but-white society. When the time came to tonsure her child, it forced her to reckon with the kind of Hinduism she practices and decide how she would want to raise the baby as a continuity of their Indian root. "Kind of Hindu" is the road she opted for, not because she had a philosophical attachment to it but because it encapsulated rightly her culture of origin and served as a link to a heritage separated by time and space. Hinduism is a lot more than 'tolerating spicy food' and tonsures and this realisation along with the understanding she may not have all the answers for her child gave the author the right direction to look towards.
When cultures interact with each other, it presents the opportunity for the individual to pick and choose the traditions they feel viable to follow earnestly, some on certain occasions and others to the lower-most drawer you promise you'll clean up one day but never get to. Having said that, how much of foreign culture is simply used as a tool to present one's self as 'exotic' or 'different'? Do we own a culture more by simply being born into it as opposed to those who have adopted and internalised it? Due to the power imbalance in the world, the topic of ethnicity and culture will always raise vociferous objections from people who find they are being taken for everything they have while left with poverty and exclusion while fighting off racist stereotypes imposed by the dominant group.
December 16, 2020
This fall, Mindy Kaling released a series of short essays on Amazon. And because they were released as individual titles (which is ridiculous, given each is the equivalent of about 10 pages long, but I'm sure was a marketing ploy), GoodReads wants me to review them each individually, too.
Instead of doing that, I'm just going to tell you in one swoop that I read—and enjoyed—all of them.
And if you're a fan of Kaling's, you will enjoy them, too. It's just that simple. Because almost everything this woman does is good. (Top-rated TV series? Good. Comedic movie starring the goddess Emma Thompson? Good. Two NYT best-selling collections of essays? Good.)
In the case of these stories, they're effortlessly good. The kind of good that makes obvious that Mindy is a born storyteller. The kind of good wherein she admits she cranked them out in her bed at night, after doing all the other awesome things she does in her day-to-day life (from being a hands-on single mom to helping run a production empire) and they are STILL that good.
Some of the stories in this collection are fluff. ("Searching for Coach Taylor" is basically just Mindy humorously professing her undying love for Coach Taylor....which, can't all FNL fans relate to?)
Some of the stories are hilarious. ("Once Upon a Time in Silverlake" is Mindy sharing about the time her and BFF BJ Novak were...well, not quite, but almost carjacked in LA by a drifter who looked like an "extremely worse-for-wear Sean William Scott" and who recognized them from "The Office.")
But others are more emotional (like this one, "Kind of Hindu," about her desire to raise her daughter as Hindu and how complicated that wish proved to be, given her own falling out with the faith she was born into).
Then there is the one that got to me most as a mother myself (one who is lucky enough to still have her own mom to look up to) and that's "Help is On the Way." In it, Mindy writes about how much she misses her mom and how hard it was not to have her there to help her when her daughter, Katherine, was born. I loved reading about how Mindy was able to find a live-in nurse (Rose) who became a surrogate mother figure in her life right when she needed one most. To me, that story was a powerful reminder that when we look at celebrities who we think "have it all," that's not always the case. I'm pretty sure Mindy would trade on her fame and fortune for the opportunity to relive her daughter's first few months with her beloved mother at her side.
If you're looking for something light but also lovely (in a way that might make you tear up, but in the best way), I can't recommend these stories enough for your holiday reading.
Instead of doing that, I'm just going to tell you in one swoop that I read—and enjoyed—all of them.
And if you're a fan of Kaling's, you will enjoy them, too. It's just that simple. Because almost everything this woman does is good. (Top-rated TV series? Good. Comedic movie starring the goddess Emma Thompson? Good. Two NYT best-selling collections of essays? Good.)
In the case of these stories, they're effortlessly good. The kind of good that makes obvious that Mindy is a born storyteller. The kind of good wherein she admits she cranked them out in her bed at night, after doing all the other awesome things she does in her day-to-day life (from being a hands-on single mom to helping run a production empire) and they are STILL that good.
Some of the stories in this collection are fluff. ("Searching for Coach Taylor" is basically just Mindy humorously professing her undying love for Coach Taylor....which, can't all FNL fans relate to?)
Some of the stories are hilarious. ("Once Upon a Time in Silverlake" is Mindy sharing about the time her and BFF BJ Novak were...well, not quite, but almost carjacked in LA by a drifter who looked like an "extremely worse-for-wear Sean William Scott" and who recognized them from "The Office.")
But others are more emotional (like this one, "Kind of Hindu," about her desire to raise her daughter as Hindu and how complicated that wish proved to be, given her own falling out with the faith she was born into).
Then there is the one that got to me most as a mother myself (one who is lucky enough to still have her own mom to look up to) and that's "Help is On the Way." In it, Mindy writes about how much she misses her mom and how hard it was not to have her there to help her when her daughter, Katherine, was born. I loved reading about how Mindy was able to find a live-in nurse (Rose) who became a surrogate mother figure in her life right when she needed one most. To me, that story was a powerful reminder that when we look at celebrities who we think "have it all," that's not always the case. I'm pretty sure Mindy would trade on her fame and fortune for the opportunity to relive her daughter's first few months with her beloved mother at her side.
If you're looking for something light but also lovely (in a way that might make you tear up, but in the best way), I can't recommend these stories enough for your holiday reading.
March 1, 2021
I was actually going to purchase Mindy Kaling’s new book of essays, but it seems as if a good many of them are available on Kindle as separate essays for FREE so what the hell. I may be cheating a little to consider these short essays as meeting my Goodreads reading goal, but what the hell. I’m also reading two nonfiction books with a combined total of 1200 pages so I think it’s okay. Kaling’s Kind of Hindu is funny and also somewhat disturbing. I’m trying not to make a judgment call on her deciding to practice Mundan, a religious Hindu ceremony of a religion she barely follows and doesn’t seem to know too much about (besides her overall cultural upbringing). I’d think if you want to put your toddler through the shock of having her head shaved, you’d do it right and not have it done by a celebrity hairdresser. I mean, if the shaving off of the hair is to erase bad luck/negative actions left over from your child’s previous life, wouldn’t it mean more if you do it the proper way? Instead, Mindy decides it will be fun to follow the cultural traditions of a religion she barely recognizes PLUS it’s a great excuse for a party! The way Mindy undertook the Mundan seemed rushed and reeked of celebrity shallowness (well, regular person shallowness too because we all can overlook the religious meaning of a ceremony and instead focus on the fun party afterward). I wish she had put more thought and research into finding a decent Hindu temple. The priest she paid to do this (who she seemed to have doubts about herself) could very well have been a charlatan. She doesn’t know Sanskrit; he could have been mumbling gibberish over her kid and not known the difference. That said, she does end the essay with recognition of the importance of cultural and religious traditions and is happy that she is passing these traditions along to her daughter. I don’t know Mindy Kaling (of course) but I suspect she’s not as shallow as she sometimes likes to make herself look; I think that’s more for comedic effect than her true self/true feelings.
The essay Kind of Hindu is classic Mindy Kaling—funny, self-deprecating at times, a little over-the-top, but a good quick read. She also includes personal photos (but wisely covers up the face of her child) and I always like those.
The essay Kind of Hindu is classic Mindy Kaling—funny, self-deprecating at times, a little over-the-top, but a good quick read. She also includes personal photos (but wisely covers up the face of her child) and I always like those.
October 12, 2020
So yeah this is the first essay that I cried during.
The reasoning for B.J. being the godfather is very funny and sweet: "I wanted someone to take Kit to Dodgers games and have an outlet to complain about me-- and then back-channel whatever they heard back to me later." But then she realized that godfather was really a religious thing ( specifically Christian thing, even though B.J. is Jewish and Mindy is Hindu). Mindy questions how involved she should be in her own faith now that she has her own daughter.
She decides to give Kit a Mundan. Now this is already a Mindy Project episode in which Mindy character gives her son, Leo, a Mundan and it is tragic and hilarious. Kit's real Mundan was that too, but takes an emotional turn of Mindy's self-reckoning that her beloved mother with never get to meet her granddaughter. And that Mindy had become a mother, but could not seek support from her own. This is where we all cry. She realizes that this ritual is a spiritual tie between the three generations and that maybe that's why religion is a connection that "without them, we are untethered to our ancestors," and the millions of other people practicing.
I did have to laugh at this shot at Hillsong though, "Even if I did not care if my daughter was Hindu, I definitely did not want her to be some other religion. So, I looked down at my sleeping eight-month old baby and whispered, "You will not be a member of the Hillsong Church!"
The reasoning for B.J. being the godfather is very funny and sweet: "I wanted someone to take Kit to Dodgers games and have an outlet to complain about me-- and then back-channel whatever they heard back to me later." But then she realized that godfather was really a religious thing ( specifically Christian thing, even though B.J. is Jewish and Mindy is Hindu). Mindy questions how involved she should be in her own faith now that she has her own daughter.
She decides to give Kit a Mundan. Now this is already a Mindy Project episode in which Mindy character gives her son, Leo, a Mundan and it is tragic and hilarious. Kit's real Mundan was that too, but takes an emotional turn of Mindy's self-reckoning that her beloved mother with never get to meet her granddaughter. And that Mindy had become a mother, but could not seek support from her own. This is where we all cry. She realizes that this ritual is a spiritual tie between the three generations and that maybe that's why religion is a connection that "without them, we are untethered to our ancestors," and the millions of other people practicing.
I did have to laugh at this shot at Hillsong though, "Even if I did not care if my daughter was Hindu, I definitely did not want her to be some other religion. So, I looked down at my sleeping eight-month old baby and whispered, "You will not be a member of the Hillsong Church!"
August 5, 2021
I read all of the essays in this series [Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes)] in the last two days via Kindle Unlimited but since they are all super duper short I am just counting them all under this one title so as not to ruin my stats for the year (Even though there are six of them I am not convinced that they even add up to one legit full length book!)
I don't know how much of Mindy Kaling's public image is real and how much is a cultivated image but based upon her books and her social media and most of her TV shows --- I am pretty sure that I wish she was my next door neighbor / BFF. I will be truly crushed if it turns out that she's an awful monster of a person.
These essays are very light and breezy (and funny) and they are just little snippets of her life: what it's like to suddenly worry about creating a religious/cultural heritage for another person, what it's like to be a single mom by choice, what it's like to be an entertainer who is really an introvert with social anxiety, what it's like to learn how to be a famous person "big shot" and how to interact with other hollywood types.
I don't know how much of Mindy Kaling's public image is real and how much is a cultivated image but based upon her books and her social media and most of her TV shows --- I am pretty sure that I wish she was my next door neighbor / BFF. I will be truly crushed if it turns out that she's an awful monster of a person.
These essays are very light and breezy (and funny) and they are just little snippets of her life: what it's like to suddenly worry about creating a religious/cultural heritage for another person, what it's like to be a single mom by choice, what it's like to be an entertainer who is really an introvert with social anxiety, what it's like to learn how to be a famous person "big shot" and how to interact with other hollywood types.
March 15, 2023
Cute! Mindy begins to confront her own cultural-religious identity with more scrutiny, prompted by the birth of her daughter. She also speaks on her parents intercultural marriage, although both are Indian, they come from different languages and cultural regions within India.
This is the third book I've read of this short story series. Each has been humorous and fun!
🌷Book Quotes:
"How Indian do I want my daughter to be?"
"My mom and dad are Indian, but met while working in Lagos, Nigeria."
This is the third book I've read of this short story series. Each has been humorous and fun!
🌷Book Quotes:
"How Indian do I want my daughter to be?"
"My mom and dad are Indian, but met while working in Lagos, Nigeria."
Read
February 18, 2025this was an essay about mindy’s connection to hinduism and how she wants to raise her kids. it was surprisingly personal despite being less than 20 pages. i have never related to anything more and i just love her writing so much haha. she seems like a wonderful mom!
Read
October 20, 2020This was my favorite one so far.
January 1, 2021
Ahh, I just love everything Mindy produces. Keep writing please. I will buy and read.
January 8, 2021
Touching, funny and real.
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