Since American Vice President Kamala Harris ran for president, Indian media has become enthusiastic about reporting her and her late mother’s story. Her mother grew up in the village of Thulasendrapuram in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India, and villagers are celebrating their connection with Harris in various ways.
The Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday (August 15) that Harris’s mother’s name is Shyamala Gopalan, who was an oncology expert who immigrated to the United States in her early years.
Gopalan’s hometown is a small village of 500 people, where a large billboard stands with Harris’s smiling face, calling her “the daughter of this land.”
A local Hindu temple even held a special prayer ceremony to cheer on Harris’s bid for the US presidency, hoping for her victory to bring glory to their small town.
Maya Ramamoorthi, a resident of the town, told Nikkei Asia, “It is something very proud for the entire town that someone from our town may become the President of the United States, one of the most powerful persons in the world.”
Akhil Goyal, a lawyer from New Delhi, said, “It feels good to see fellow Indians shining in the most successful societies in the world. They are our soft power.”
Shalini Seth of the American-India Foundation said, “Over the years, Indians in America have gained wealth, better education, and social status. The first generation immigrants are busy working, supporting families, and contributing to society, while the immigrant descendants attend top universities in the US, enabling them to speak fluent English, lowering the threshold for their political participation.”
Harris’s father is Jamaican, and American media often refer to her as Black. Some Indian Americans believe that her becoming the president doesn’t hold much significance for them.
Mukesh Saxena, an IT worker from Virginia, said, “Despite Harris having ample records proving her Indian heritage and connections to Indian families, there is little evidence indicating that her presidency would have a significant impact on US-India relations.”
“She hasn’t extensively used her Indian identity, and her policies hardly focus on India… so we should temper our expectations,” he said.