‘By P. Sarojini’
      CHENNAI, India (CWBN)_ Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for Vice President in the US election 2020, is the first African-American woman to be chosen for the post. She was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother. The 55-year-old Vice Presidential nominee has her roots in both Africa and India. With this background, she was endorsed by both the African-American and Indian-American voters.
      With the ongoing election in the United States, Harris’ ancestral village in Tamil Nadu is celebrating her progress in the election. Special victory prayers were held for Kamala Harris in the temple at her maternal grandfather’s ancestral village in Tamil Nadu. The temple God was noted as her grandfather’s family deity.
      Harris had previously shared about her roots in India. She had spoke about her maternal grandfather Mr. PV Gopalan, who is a civil servant and had served in India and abroad, and said he was her inspiration during her childhood. Her ancestral village in Tamil Nadu is Thulasendrapuram village, which is 390 km south of the state capital Chennai. Hours before the polling started, the residents of the village gathered in the Thulasendrapuram temple and held victory prayers for Kamala Harris to become the Vice President.
      Harris’ aunt Dr. Sarala Gopalan explained Harris’ connection with the village saying “The Thulasendrapuram temple God is my father’s family deity. Whenever there is a marriage in the family or a special occasion, we visit the temple”. She added “I am aware of the special prayers and I try to go to the temple every year and pray for everyone in our family. This year, I could not go because of COVID”. Dr. Sarala Gopalan was famously referred to as ‘chithi’ by Kamala Harris in her acceptance speech.
      The Thulasendrapuram temple has Harris’ name engraved in their inscription along with other donors, acknowledging her donation of INR 5000 in 2014. The temple administrator Ramanan said “We are happy and proud of her accomplishments. Kamala, who has her roots in this village, is in the race to become the Vice President of the United States”.
      Earlier, the villagers put up posters and banners of Kamala Harris and wished her success in the election. It was said that Harris was too impressed by the love and support from her ancestral village. Earlier, she had also shared her favorite Indian dishes and said she likes “idli and a really good sambar” and “any kind of tikka”.
      Kamala Harris was also in the nomination list to become the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, but the two-time Vice President Joe Biden won the nomination and chose Harris as his running mate.
      In the US election 2020, the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris team faces against the Donald Trump-Mike Pence team. The poll predictions have placed the Biden-Harris team in the lead position against the Trump-Pence team. This time, the major issues in the election are COVID, healthcare, climate change, immigration and racism. With the special prayers held, let’s hope the best comes to Kamala Harris.
Edited by Elishya Perera
