A town in southern India also erupted with joy when Kamala Harris became the first female vice president-elect of the United States. Harris traces part of his ancestral roots back to India.
People began to celebrate their victory by distributing sweets and popping cookies in Thulasendrapuram, a village in the Tiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu where Kamala Harris’s maternal grandfather was born.
They complimented Harris by drawing colorful rangoli in front of their houses.
“His victory also motivates the children of our village,” says Arulmozhi Sudhakar, a local village chief from Thulasendhirapuram, Painganadu. “Now I can show my 11-year-old son how much he can achieve even in our village.”
The Dharmasastha Temple in town has been performing special poojas since August, when Joe Biden announced Harris as his running mate. In 2014, her aunt (Dr. Sarala Gopalan, who lives in Chennai) donated 5,000 rupees to the temple on behalf of Kamala Harris.
Tamil Nadu politicians highlighted Harris’ Tamil heritage when his mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Chennai. Later, Harris’s mother moved to the United States.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami tweeted that Harris’s victory made Tamil Nadu proud. DMK leader MK Stalin congratulated Harris by tweeting that he was “especially pleased” that the Americans chose “a woman of Tamil heritage as their vice president.”
Harris has often recalled visiting Chennai’s seaside Besant Nagar neighborhood.
Harris’s Indian family, which includes his Aunt Gopalan and Uncle G Balachandran, who lives in Delhi, are making plans to attend his swearing-in ceremony in January 2021. They were also present during his swearing-in as Senator from California in 2017. .
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