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Tag: Vijay Chokal-Ingam

  • Mindy Kaling’s Brother Identified Himself As Black to Get Into Medical School

    Mindy Kaling‘s brother is claiming he self-identified himself as black in order to get in to medical school after being wait-listed at several schools.

    According to Vijay Chokal-Ingam, the older brother of Mindy Kaling, he checked his race as black on medical school applications in 1998 and 1999 to make a point against affirmative action.

    Chokal-Ingam said he felt compelled to try a different approach when he found himself wait-listed at University of Pennsylvania, Washington University and Mt. Sinai.

    “Would you rather accept racism or defy those who want to discriminate against you? I chose the latter and applied to medical school as black,” Chokal-Ingam posted on his website Almost Black.

    “I shaved my head, trimmed my long Indian eyelashes, and applied to medical school as a black man. My change in appearance was so startling that my own fraternity brothers didn’t recognize me at first. I even joined the Organization of Black Students,” Chokal-Ingam – who is Indian-American – said.

    After applying as a black man, he received acceptance letters from medical programs including Columbia University, Cornell University, George Washington University, Vanderbilt University and more.

    Mindy Kaling’s brother apparently wanted to make a point against affirmative action and calls himself an “affirmative action hacktivist.”

    “Let me clear about one thing. I never lied about anything on my application, except my race. Everything else on my application can be verified as correct. I didn’t even claim that I was ‘disadvantaged,’” said Chokal-Ingam.

    Kaling’s Los Angeles-based brother says he is also working on a book about affirmative action and his stance against the practice.

    Empirical research has its limitations, and I personally know some very talented and hardworking African Americans, but…

    Posted by Almost Black on Sunday, April 5, 2015

    “I am writing this book to show my opposition to affirmative action discrimination, specifically at my alma mater UCLA but in the American education system in general,” he wrote on his website.

    According to a source for People magazine, Mindy Kaling and her brother are estranged.

    “I love my sister to death,” Chokal-Ingam told the New York Post. “She says this will bring shame on the family.”

    “My sister Mindy Kaling (Vera Mindy Chokalingam), of The Mindy Project and Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, strongly disapproves of my book,” he wrote on his blog.

    “She actually said, ‘This book will bring shame on our family.’ The rest of my family does not agree with the book. Still, they respect my right to make my own decisions with my career,” he added.

    Chokal-Ingam went on to attend St. Louis University Medical School, but dropped out after two years. It is unclear how he identified himself in his application to the medical school.

  • Mindy Kaling’s Brother: Being ‘Black’ Got Him Into Med School

    In a ruse straight out of the movie Soul Man, Mindy Kaling’s older brother posed as a black man to get into medical school.

    Vijay Chokal-Ingam recently revealed that he self-identified as black on his medical school applications to give himself a better chance at getting accepted.

    “I was determined to become a doctor and I knew that admission standards for certain minorities under affirmative action were, let’s say… less stringent?” Chokal-Ingam wrote in his blog Almost Black.

    The Indian-American said that to look more the part, he shaved his head, trimmed what he describes as his “long Indian eyelashes” and even went so far as to join the Organization of Black Students. His transformation was so drastic that he claims even his fraternity brothers didn’t recognized him.

    Chokal-Ingam was apparently convincing enough that he was soon interviewed at Columbia and HarvardUniversities and was on the waiting list of Mt.Sinai, University of Pennsylvania and WashingtonUniversity. He has even posted screenshots of medical school applications and interview invitations on his Almost Black Facebook page.

    This album has extensive documentation (including applications, admissions correspondence, interview invites, and... Posted by Almost Black on Friday, March 27, 2015
    He was finally accepted to St. Louis University School of Medicine but dropped out after two years. He pulled off his so called “twisted social experiment” 15 years ago but decided to reveal it now to underline his anti-affirmative action beliefs.  Chokal-Ingam even called out his alma mater UCLA for, according to him, strengthening its affirmative-action admissions policies. Describing himself as an “affirmative action hacktivist,” Chokal-Ingram is also planning to write a memoir about his ruse, aptly titled “Almost Black.” As expected, his revelation has received a lot of backlash, with people angrily commenting on how he took advantage of the system or how he deprived a worthy black student of an opportunity. Representatives of Mindy Kaling have not issued any comment on the matter. However, Chokal-Ingam did admit that his sister didn’t approve of his actions and that they’re fighting over it. “She says this will bring shame on the family,” he admitted.