THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) – A small, lush green Indian town, surrounded by rice-pork fields, radiated hours of joy on Wednesday before her descendant, Kamala Harris, takes her oath of office and becomes US Vice President.
Harris will make history as the first woman, the first woman of color and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the vice presidency.
In her native city of Thulasendrapuram, about 350 kilometers from the southern coastal city of Chennai, people were cheering and getting ready for celebrations.
“We feel very proud that an Indian is being elected Vice President of America,” said Anukampa Madhavasimhan, a teacher.
Harris’ grandfather moved to Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu, decades ago. Harris’ late mother was also born in India before moving to the United States to study at the University of California. She marries a Jamaican man, and they call their daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit word for ‘lotus flower’.
Before the inauguration, special prayers for her success were held at the city temple during which the idol of the Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva, was washed with milk and decorated with flowers by the priest.
Before the US election in November, villagers in Thulasendrapuram also held a ceremony at the temple to wish Harris well. After her victory, they set off fireworks and sweets and flowers handed out as a religious offering.
Posters from Harris of the November celebration still adorn walls in the town, and many hope she will rise to the presidency in 2024. Elected President Joe Biden has asked questions about whether he will seek re-election or resignation.
“If she will support India for the next four years, she will be the president,” said G Manikandan, who has followed Harris politically and whose shop proudly displays a wall calendar with photos of Biden and Harris.
An organization that promotes vegetarianism sent food parcels to the village children on Tuesday as gifts to celebrate Harris’ success.