Janarthanan/BBCThulasendhrapuram, a tiny village around 300km from the south Indian city of Chennai ( formerly Madras ) and 14, 000 km from Washington DC, is where Kamala Harris ‘ maternal grandparents were from.
A large banner honoring Ms. Harris, 59, is now boldly dipped in the village’s center.
The local deity’s name is being given as a thank you for her success; Ms. Harris and her paternal grandfather’s names are on the list of people who donate to the town church, and sweets are being given out.
Following Joe Biden’s withdrawal and Ms. Harris ‘ rise as a potential candidate, local residents have closely followed the US presidential election.
” It is not an easy feat to be where she has reached in the most powerful country in the world”, says Krishnamurthi, a retired bank manager.
” We are truly proud of her. When Indians were ruled by immigrants, then Indians are leading effective nations”.
There is also a sense of pride, mainly among women. They consider Ms. Harris to be one of their own, a representation of what is possible for women all over.
” Anyone knows her, yet the kids.’ My girl, my family ‘- that is how they address her”, said Arulmozhi Sudhakar, a village native body consultant.
” We express our happiness and are glad that she has not forgotten her stems.”
When Ms. Harris became vice president, the pleasure and scene serve as reminder of how locals took to the streets with calendars, posters, and fireworks.
There was a communal feast where hundreds enjoyed traditional south Indian dishes like sambar and idli, which according to one of Ms Harris’ relatives, are among her favourite foods to eat.
American Roots
Janarthanan/BBCMs Harris is the child of Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher, who hailed from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, before moving to the US in 1958. Gopalan’s kids were from Thulasendhrapuram.
“My mother, Shyamala, came to the US from India alone at 19. She was a force – a scientist, a civil rights activist, and a mother who infused a sense of pride in her two daughters,” Ms Harris said in a social media post last year.
Ms Harris visited Chennai with her sister Maya after their mother died, and immersed her ashes in the sea according to Hindu traditions, according to this report in The Hindu newspaper .
Ms Harris comes from a family of great earners. Gopalan Balachandran, her maternal aunt, is a professor. He father PV Gopalan, rose to become an American politician, and was an expert on migrant settlement.
In the 1960s, he even advised Zambia’s second leader.
Janarthanan/BBC” She ( Kamala ) has been a prominent figure for quite a while now. It’s certainly a great shock. According to R Rajaraman, an emeritus professor of philosophical science at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and a mother-of-the-marriage,” things like this was on the tickets for many years.”
According to Prof. Rajaraman, he lost contact with Shyamala after meeting her suddenly in Berkeley in the middle of the 1970s when he traveled to the US and met Ms. Gopalan.
” Shyamala was there. She gave me a cup of tea. These two children ( Kamala and her sister Maya ) were there. They paid no attention”, he recalled.
” Both of them were enterprising. There was optimism in her family, which is there in Kamala also”.
Again in Thulasenhrapuram, locals are anticipating the news of her candidature immediately.
” Kamala’s chithi ( mother’s younger sister ) Sarala visits this temple regularly. In 2014 she donated 5, 000 rupees ($ 60, £46 ) on behalf of Kamala Harris”, said Natarajan, the temple priest.
Natarajan is convinced that Ms. Harris ‘ prayer will help her win the election.
The people claim that despite being thousands of miles away from the US, they feel connected to her trip. They anticipate that she will visit them in the future, or that her talk will notice the village.