Meet These Indian Villagers Waiting For A Mention In Kamala Harris's Speech After US Presidential Poll Results

The names of Kamala Harris and her grandfather are on the list of donors to the village temple. Sweets are being distributed in addition to special prayers to pray for her success.

File photo of Kamala Harris.

Source : Twitter

The birthplace of Kamala Harris's maternal grandparents was Thulasendhrapuram, a small village located about 14,000 km from Washington DC and 300 km from Chennai, formerly known as Madras in south India. Currently, a large banner featuring Harris, 59, is being proudly displayed in the village centre.

The names of Harris and her maternal grandfather are on the list of donors to the village temple, and sweets are being given out in addition to special prayers being said to the local deity for her success. Amidst Joe Biden's withdrawal and Harris's ascent to the nomination, villagers have been closely monitoring the US presidential contest.

A feeling of pride is also present, particularly among women. As a representation of what is possible for women everywhere, they view Harris as one of their own. The celebration and spectacle bring back memories of how the locals decorated the streets with calendars, posters, and fireworks when Harris was elected vice president. At a social feast, hundreds of people ate traditional south Indian dishes like idli and sambar, which one of Harris's relatives said were some of her favourite foods. Despite being thousands of miles away from the US, the villagers claim to feel a connection to her journey. Someday, they hope, she will come to visit them or the village will be mentioned in her speech. 

Harris is the daughter of breast cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan, who moved to the United States in 1958 from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Gopalan was born and raised in Thulasendhrapuram. "At the age of 19, my mother Shyamala travelled alone from India to the US," In a social media post from the previous year, Harris praised her as a scientist, a civil rights activist, and a mother who gave her two daughters a sense of pride. After their mother passed away, Harris travelled to Chennai with her sister Maya, where they followed Hindu customs and buried their mother's ashes in the sea, according to reports. 

Harris comes from a prosperous background. Her maternal uncle is a scholar named Gopalan Balachandran. He was the grandfather of Indian bureaucrat PV Gopalan and a recognised expert on refugee resettlement. He also provided advice to the first president of Zambia in the 1960s.