FANDOM FRIDAY: Mala Sasikumar on Discovering STAR TREK in India and Where She Finds Those Amazing Memes
Meet Mala in our inaugural Fandom Friday!
Hello! Welcome to the first ever Fandom Friday where I interview readers of Daily Star Trek News to showcase how amazingly diverse and absolutely epic the Star Trek fandom is.
This month I interviewed Malavika Sasikumar, DSTN’s most devoted fan. We’ve communicated a bit in the past, mostly about memes, and I was eager to know where she got all her amazing Star Trek memes. It was awesome to get to know her better and I’m so excited for you all to get to know her too!
DAILY STAR TREK NEWS: Tell us a bit about yourself and your life outside of Star Trek.
MALA SASIKUMAR: My day job is in Management Consulting, and I also volunteer as an ESL tutor. I love to travel and I have visited around 40 US States and 30 countries so far.
DSTN: How did you get into Star Trek? What show was your first? When did you get into it?
MALA: I came of age in the early 90’s in Southern India. Liberalization of the economy meant that foreign television channels were allowed to broadcast there for the first time. Although I’d somehow missed TOS which had been syndicated in the 1980s on the main state-owned TV channel, I started watching TNG when it aired on the STAR (Fox-owned Satellite TV Asia Network) once a week in the 9 pm primetime slot. Right away, I loved the adventures that the TNG crew encountered and the complex stories in each episode. Also had a huge girl crush on Denise Crosby, and admired the other female leads as well.
DSTN: What is it about Star Trek that you love?
MALA: I love the diversity in the crew and in the species they encounter, the crew’s optimism, the Command Teams’ tenacious approach to solving problems, and their refusal to compromise human values in any situation.
DSTN: Has Star Trek impacted your life in any way? If so, how?
MALA: When my mom passed away unexpectedly in 2016, I stumbled upon Voyager, and Captain Janeway’s strength, persistence, and hope inspired me to get through my days.
DSTN: How have you found community within the Star Trek fandom? Do you have people in real life who you can share your love for Star Trek with or is it all online?
MALA: My Trek friends hold a special place in my life and heart. They came late in life, it’s true, but I feel really accepted and energized (no pun intended!) in their company—whether offline or online. I interact with them offline during IRL celebrations like First Contact Day and Star Trek Day, organized by fan groups that I heard about either at comic-cons or back when I was active on social media. I’ve been to around a dozen comic-cons, keep making new friends there I keep in touch with, and intend to keep going no matter how old I get!
DSTN: Where do you get all your amazing memes?
MALA: Most of my memes were collected during the pandemic. I was quite addicted to fan groups, especially on Facebook and Instagram, and would greedily grab, save, and savor memes whenever I found them. Now that I’m far less active on social media, I get memes from friends and family who know of my love for Trek, and, of course, from DSTN! I have around 1,300 of them by now.
DSTN: What is your favorite Star Trek show and why?
MALA: My favorite is Voyager, followed very closely by TNG. I also love most SNW episodes.
DSTN: Do you have a favorite character? If so, which one and why that one?
MALA: I mostly connect with the female characters in Trek. Captain Janeway definitely tops the list. I love her multi-disciplinary talents, grit, and passion.
DSTN: What’s something you want the readers of DSTN to know about you?
MALA: I don’t want to just keep watching and enjoying Trek—I want to try and live by its ideals, especially IDIC. Whenever I find myself thinking or saying something prejudiced, I remind myself of it and similar Trek values.
I hope you all enjoyed getting to know Mala as much as I did! She’s such an amazingly kind and wonderful person and I’m so fortunate to have gotten to know her. I also think she may hold the record for the largest Star Trek meme collection EVER!
If you want to be featured in our monthly Fandom Friday column, beam an email over to us at info@dailystartreknews.com and tell us why you think you should be included.
Aster is a fresh face to Daily Star Trek News, joining the ranks as a contributing writer. Though he may be young, he self-describes as a hardcore nerd, lover of cheese sticks and niche internet discourse. Outside of his long-time obsession with Star Trek, Aster is an avid cosplayer, crocheter, and Catan enthusiast who is attending school for technical theater and design. He's very excited to debut in his "professional nerd career" and finally put all his obscure nerd facts to good use.
