A while back, I celebrated Danny Pudi's 35th birthday with a blog post, so I thought that it was only fitting to celebrate Mindy Kaling's in the same manner (maybe this will become a trend). When I watched The Office, I was fascinated with the off-the-rails, occasionally annoying, self-absorbed character of Kelly Kapoor. She was crazy, plain and simple, and there was something so hilarious about that crazy. I thought that no one could possibly say or do the things that she did, and then I looked around at some of the people in my own life and thought: "Well, maybe that's not entirely implausible behavior." Mindy Kaling started her own series after The Office ended titled The Mindy Project. I admit to not enjoying the first few episodes, but I eventually (thanks to the lovely people on Tumblr) found my way back to the series and after marathoning, have been delighted with it ever since. After reading Mindy's book, I found her to be even more endearing and desperately wished that I could be her best friend. That's the thing about Mindy Kaling, y'all: she is the kind of person you want as your best friend. And not because you want to take Instagram photos together or live-tweet The Real Housewives or something like that (though that would be a lot of fun), but because she's the kind of person who seems intelligent enough to hold a deep conversation with you about feminism or body image, but who is also fun enough to drive with you in the middle of the night to get ice cream. When I say that I adore Mindy Kaling, it's not because she actively talks about societal standards of beauty or how intelligent she is as a comedian. I don't even adore her because she's a successful sitcom show runner, a female playing in the pool primarily occupied by males. No, when I say that I adore Mindy Kaling it's because she's always herself and never apologizes for it. That's courageous, in a life where people try to hide who they truly are in order to please others. Mindy is unapologetic and that's not only admirable; it's also beautiful. She's an exceptionally talented writer with the ability to tap into the romance and comedy on both the broad and intimate spectrum, and also a delightful performer. And for all of those reasons and many more, we celebrate Mindy Kaling for the person she is, all that she's accomplished, and all she will accomplish in the coming year.
And now, some fun: click below the cut for a collection of some of my favorite Mindy Kaling/Mindy Lahiri/Kelly Kapoor GIFs (that I'm borrowing because I did not make them; I'm not talented in that area). And hit up the comments with some of your own favorite Mindy moments, too!
