NEW YORK: US President Joe Biden bestowed Indian-American actress-producer Mindy Kaling with the prestigious 2021 National Medal of Arts, one of the highest awards given to artists and arts patrons by the US govt.

Mindy Kaling, aged 43, also known as Vera Mindy Chokalingam, was awarded for advancing the arts in America in a ceremony attended by First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on March 21.

"She empowers a new generation to express their tales with their own irreverence and sincerity because she was the first woman of colour to develop, write, and appear in a primetime sitcom. A Daughter of immigrants from India "When he gave the actress the award, Biden said.

"We are aware of that, right? Our Vice President is an Indian immigrant's daughter with a brilliant scientist for a mother. Mindy, we also know that your mother is always with you in spirit" the President  said.

A National Medal of Arts citation stated, "Imbued with humour and heart, Mindy Kaling's work spanning television, cinema, and books inspires and delights — capturing and uplifting the realities of women and girls across our nation.
The parents of Kaling, an obstetrician-gynecologist mother and an architect father, immigrated to the US from Nigeria in 1979.

She voiced characters in the animated films "Despicable Me" (2010), "Wreck-It Ralph" (2012), and "Inside Out" in addition to lending her acting skills to comedies like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005), "License to Wed" (2007), and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" (2009). (2015).

She created the ground-breaking "The Mindy Project," which focused on the life of obstetrician-gynecologist Mindy Lahiri and her obsession with finding love.

Recently, she co-created and co-wrote the Netflix show  titled 'Never Have I Ever', about a first-generation Indian-American teenager, and 'The Sex Lives of College Girls', a comedy series that centres on four college roommates.

The National Medals of Arts was given to twelve other artists, which included artist-activist Judith Francisca Baca, Puerto Rican musician Jose Feliciano, philanthropist Fred Eychaner,  Puerto Rican painter Antonio Martorell-Cardona and film producer Joan Shigekawa.

The National Humanities Medals, which were awarded to 12 eminent authors, historians, educators, and activists, were also presented at the same time.

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