(CU)_In an exciting development in the fusion between arts and politics, 9 members of the UK House of Commons and House of Lords joined former member of the European parliament, Nirj Deva, in gifting vice president of the United States, Kamal Harris with a rare painting by his wife.
Indra Deva, whose artistic fame is growing internationally, is a French-speaking Mauritian of Indian heritage, with family coming from Gujarat and Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu. She is the wife of Nirj Deva, the publisher of the Commonwealth Union media platform. Mr. Deva made history as the first post-colonial non-white ethnic minority Conservative Member of the British Parliament in 1992. He also went on to become the first Asian born Member of the European Parliament, where he served for 20 years since 1999. He was born in in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to a leading family of Rajasthani (Indian) descent, and was raised in Britain.
Therefore, the gifting of a painting done by Indra Deva to Kamala Harris, the first African American and first Asian American vice president, is seen as an exciting development in drawing links between the diaspora communities across the globe. The painting is of the rare Himalayan ‘once in a blue moon blooming’ Kamala Brahma flower, after which the US Vice President was named by her Indian-born mother Shyamala Gopalan, who had strong Tamil Nadu roots. The rare Kamala Brahma takes about two hours to bloom and is seen as a sign of good luck and prosperity.
The following are the British MPs, who joined Mr. Deva is gifting the painting a limited edition of the painting to the US Vice President through the good Offices of the British Embassy in Washington.
