Born in Adelaide to an Australian/Minangkabau family, Indija has a background in traditional Indonesian dancing and Western dance and theatre. After studying at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, she spent a year training in Minangkabu dance and Randai Folk Theatre in West Sumatra.
In 1993 she established MusiK KabaU in Brisbane, a movement theatre based on Minangkabu dance and traditional storytelling. This group has performed at Out of the Box, BEMAC World of Music, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and the Aisa-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Indija's premiere writing and directing debut was 'The Horned Matriarch' in Brisbane in 1996 and 'Mr Stupid', a bi-lingual production for schools. In 1997 she spent time in Indonesia on an Asialink Performing Arts residency.