kaling was born in cambridge, massachusetts to indian hindu parents. her mother was a doctor while her father was an architect. she was named "mindy" after the character in the television series mork &amp; mindy. she describes herself as a child calling herself "a respectful and hardworking wallflower". she took up acting when she attended dartmouth college. she took a break from college for a semester to intern with late night with conan o'brien. kaling was a member of dartmouth's improv troupe "the dog day players". she also created "badly drawn girl". a comic strip for the dartmouth newspaper. in the play "+matt &amp; ben" she played ben affleck. it was featured on time magazine"s 2003 "top ten theatrical events of the year". she graduated in 2001.