There are a lot of attributes required from a person trying to make it in the entertainment world. Talent is obviously one of them, and luck is another, but having a name that casting directors and agencies can both remember and pronounce is a big plus, too. We suspect that's why Mindy Kaling goes with a heavily abbreviated version of her real name.
Kaling's parents are both Indian and named her accordingly. To Westerners, Indian names can be very long, difficult to pronounce and even more difficult to remember. Kaling probably wasn't getting all that many callbacks or auditioning opportunities under her full name of Vera Mindy Chokalingham, so we understand why she went with her middle name and made her last name shorter. What's wrong with 'Vera' though? Vera Kaling sounds just as cool as the name she settled on!