Thulasendhrapuram, a tiny village 300km from Chennai of Tamil Nadu, and 14,000 km from Washington DC, is the ancestral home of Kamala Harris' maternal grandparents.
The village center proudly displays a large banner of Ms. Harris, 59, while special prayers are being offered to the local deity for her success. The names of Ms. Harris and her maternal grandfather appear on the list of donors to the village temple, and sweets are being distributed among the villagers.
Following Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race and Ms. Harris' potential nomination, the villagers have been closely observing the US presidential race. Krishnamurthi, a retired bank manager, remarked, “It is not an easy feat to be where she has reached in the most powerful country in the world. We are really proud of her. Once Indians were ruled by foreigners, now Indians are leading powerful nations.”
Women in the village feel a special pride, viewing Ms. Harris as a symbol of what is possible for women everywhere. Arulmozhi Sudhakar, a local representative, said, “Everybody knows her, even the children. ‘My sister, my mother’ - that is how they address her. We are happy that she has not forgotten her roots and we express our happiness."
The excitement is reminiscent of the celebrations when Ms. Harris became vice president. Villagers took to the streets with fireworks, posters, and calendars. Hundreds enjoyed a communal feast featuring traditional south Indian dishes like sambar and idli, which, according to one of Ms. Harris' relatives, are among her favorite foods.
Ms. Harris is the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher who moved to the US from Tamil Nadu in 1958. Gopalan's parents hailed from Thulasendhrapuram. In a social media post last year, Ms. Harris shared, “My mother, Shyamala, came to the US from India alone at 19. She was a force – a scientist, a civil rights activist, and a mother who infused a sense of pride in her two daughters.”
Ms. Harris visited Chennai with her sister Maya after their mother passed away, immersing her ashes in the sea as per Hindu traditions, reported by The Hindu newspaper. Her family is known for their achievements. Her maternal uncle Gopalan Balachandran is an academic, and her grandfather PV Gopalan, an expert on refugee resettlement, rose to become an Indian bureaucrat and served as an advisor to Zambia’s first president in the 1960s.
R Rajaraman, an emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University and a classmate of Ms. Harris' mother, recalled, “She (Kamala) has been a prominent figure for quite a while now. It’s not a great surprise. Something like this was on the cards for many years.” He recounted meeting Shyamala in Berkeley in the mid-1970s and reminisced about the positivity and enterprising nature shared by Shyamala and Kamala.
In Thulasendhrapuram, villagers are eagerly awaiting the announcement of her candidature. "Kamala's chithi (mother's younger sister) Sarala visits this temple regularly. In 2014 she donated 5,000 rupees ($60; £46) on behalf of Kamala Harris," said Natarajan, the temple priest. He is confident their prayers will help Ms. Harris win the election.
Despite the distance, the villagers feel deeply connected to Ms. Harris’ journey and hope she visits them someday or mentions the village in one of her speeches.
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