Padma Govindan's Photo

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Overview

  • 4 references 1 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English; learning Hindi, Tamil
  • 41, Female
  • Member since 2006
  • I'm working for an NGO in Chennai, and I'm actually in th...
  • I graduated from Middlebury College in 2005. I was an ant...
  • From Yay New Jersy!
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

I want to meet as many awesome, adventurous, and open-minded people as I can. I'm really excited about building a global community of friends and assorted cool people.

ABOUT ME

Yikes, there are so many things! Well, I'm pretty involved with the gender-queer/feminist/NGO scene in Chennai. I work for an organization that does rehab work for women who are survivors of domestic violence. On top of that, I have decided to start my own NGO that provides contraception, gynocology visits, basic sex ed classes, and counseling for women in Chennai--basically a small-scale version of Planned Parenthood. I'm really interested in the intersection of popular media, gender and sexuality, and public health. On another topic, I absolutely *love* reading. I go through books like a freaking addict. (Because I didn't get to read much fiction when I was in school, I've been on a huge fiction kick. Just trying to keep up.) And I like being crafty--painting, making my own clothes (although I haven't done that in a while), making weird little magnets, all sorts of stuff like that. I'm planning to be a Rubicks cube for Halloween.

Interests

You need more? I guess one more thing is that I used to be a radio DJ, and I want to get back into it. I've produced documentaries for community radio stations and been the DJ for music shows. (My favorite was an all-Renaissance/Baroque show.) And I have been singing in classical chamber ensembles for more than twelve years. I'm an alto.

  • books
  • singing
  • documentaries
  • clothing
  • reading
  • painting
  • music
  • communications

Music, Movies, and Books

Jeezy Chreezy. How do people answer these kinds of questions? There are too many in each category for me to list! I'll do the best I can.

Movies: Half Nelson (this is a new addition), The Age of Innocence, Casino, Secrets and Lies, All or Nothing, Purple Rose of Cairo, Boogie Nights, Bad Education, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mysterious Skin (this would go in my favorite books section, too), All About Eve, Wayne's World, and more that I'm forgetting.

Music: Elliott Smith, Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, Sleater Kinney, Gillian Welsh, My Bloody Valentine, The Cure, Cat Power, Sun Kil Moon, The Velvet Underground, New York Dolls, Classified, Broken Social Scene, Blackalicious, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Chaka Khan, Slick Rick, Jay-Z, Pimp Tea, Mogwai, The Feelies, The Kinks, Billie Holiday, Kool and the Gang, The Meters, Spearhead, Nico, Lee Wiley, Smog, Chet Baker, Public Enemy, Sonic Youth, The Smiths, Redhouse Painters, My Bloody Valentine.

Books: The Age of Innocence, Mysterious Skin (crossovers from the movie list), Never Let Me Go, White Teeth, Veronica, Bad Behavior, Two Girls, Fat and Thin (I love Mary Gaitskill), The Handmaid's Tale, The Big Sleep, Death Without Weeping, History of Sexuality Vol. 1 (I'm not ridiculously pretentious, I swear--this really is one of my favorite books), Saint Foucault, Fear of a Queer Planet, Washington Square, Travels With My Aunt, The Ladder of Years, The Last Of Her Kind.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been lucky enough to actually get to do some cool stuff in my young life. This summer I did a rickshaw race all through Tamil Nadu with four friends. That was awesome--especially when we flipped the rickshaw and lost our windshield. I also did a motorcycle trip from Goa to Delhi through the monsoon a few summers ago. (That was with my partner, Scott.) And I got bitten by monkey some time back. I hate you, monkey.

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