Good Indian Girl, Sort Of: Angelique Chandy

URBAN URCHIN, SOCIABLE LONER, EXTOLLER OF LIFE’S VAGARIES

angelique chandy

I currently reside in: New Yorker from the old country now living in Austin, TX

What’s your favorite hangout in Austin:
 My INTJ personality has me shying away from bawdy revelry like a nervous filly. Since I’m not big into alcohol, it’s quaint bookstores, cozy cafés (with extensive tea lists), juice bars and antique shops. A favorite hangout is Juan Pelota after a weekend run, fat tome in tow, sipping a blue dragon smoothie and watching the silhouetted bikers file up in the early morning light. I’d top that off with a dollop of ‘WOAH NELLY!’, by ambling over to the farmer’s market on Guadalupe.

I currently work as: An artist.

I do this because: I must.

What are some Indian traditions you still follow? Oy! Our household was anything but traditional with a Visigoth surnamed, Portuguese speaking mother and a Syrian Christian father who met at a Goan beach concert. With nomadic ancestral genes ever-so-questionably Indian, the staunch saving grace is my paternal grandmother’s Nambudiri roots.

Bollywood or Hollywood, and why? Neither. Indian & American indie. Why go Bollywood when you can get lost in a Satyajit Ray film? I have a long attention span and all that bombastic, plastic, hollybolly frenzy with flat characters and ever flatter plots, leaves me with a flatline-sounding headache.

Favorite movie? Something that delves into the human psyche (no matter how dark), with long exposure shots and quietly expressive visuals. Think: A Single Man, Man Push Cart, Gummo, Winter’s Bone, etc. That being said, I do have a weakness for Scifi (<3 BSG!). Fritz Lang’s Metropolis is a favorite but I don’t discriminate… monster that looks suspiciously like a tottering iguana? Im in! Visible strings on that spacecraft? I’ll watch it!!

What’s your favorite thing about culture? The emphasis on family and education.

What’s one piece of advice your parents have given you that should probably be or are abiding by? I grew up pretty feral but I’ve found it’s wiser to learn from other peoples mistakes. The myriad of paths available to you in your time have been walked by a myriad before you stretched along the ages. Take notes.

So are you a Good Indian Girl? I am an outlier. I don’t follow the rules but I don’t break them either. This walking conundrum picks: None of the above.

Banksy ain’t got nothin’ on you, Angelique! To see more of Angelique’s artwork you can “Like” her Facebook page.

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