December Face of the Month, Pratima Anae: Interviewed by Studio 838
Hey, Pratima. What is your birth city?
Manhattan, Kansas.
Oh . . . when did you get outta Dodge?
Ha ha, when I was six months old.
Ah, O.K. Then, where did you go?
I went to Indiana, a little Amish town named Shipshewana .
So, you’re Amish?
Well, my parents are Mennonite.
Mennonite? That’s funny because you look, well, more East Asian Indian than “Indianaian.”
I grew up in a family that held the belief that religion is a personal relation of a cultural expression, and wanted to embrace the community that embraced them. 
When we lived in Shipshewana (Indiana), we went to a Mennonite church; and in India, we went to temple.
That sounds like a beautiful perspective to have. Have you spent a lot of time in India?
We would summer in Hyderabad. I loved it. I wanted my parents to leave me there. It was full of things like suitcases with scorpion surprises. And the city was colored the shades of sunset.
But you didn’t stay in Indiana?
No. I felt like moving to Manhattan. Manhattan, New York, was a bit of my birthright.
Love it. What was your first Manhattan address?
307 E. 91st Street.
What sent you to New York City?
Modeling.
Your first agency?
Ford.
What brought you to Los Angeles?
Acting. I believe cinema to be the most relevant art form today.
You have side interests as well, right?
Yes. I like to read–mostly classic literature, biographies, painting, cinema, and law.
You went to law school, right?
Yes. Lots and lots of reading. I actually finished in New York while I was working as a model. I remember I had a casting my first year of law and it was a callback casting, and I got the job and it was going to pay for me to live for an entire summer; so I had to take the job, but I had to study for the exam at the shoot. I had this huge law book at the photo shoot–it was an underwear campaign.
The following questions came from the infamous “Marcel Proust” questionnaire:
What is your most marked characteristic?
One that I believe every human possesses . . . the ability to love.
What is your favorite color?
White, because all the colors of light together create white.
What is your favorite flower?
Jasmine, as it reminds me so of India, and its intoxication.
What would you like to be?
Be myself without reservation.
What is your dream of happiness?
Peace of mind.
How would you like to die?
In the midst of a dream of happiness.
