A poster shows US Vice President Kamala Harris in her ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on July 23, after President Biden withdrew as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee and endorsed Harris.
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THULASENDRAPURAM, India – In a small temple in southern India, a group of people have been praying every day since late last month: “I hope Kamala Harris wins this election. I hope she visits this temple and does good for our village.”
The community of 2,000 people, surrounded by rice fields, is the ancestral village of Kamala Harris, where her grandfather PV Gopalan lived about 100 years ago. His daughter, Harris’ mother Shyamala Gopalan, moved from India to the United States, where she met and married Donald Harris, a fellow graduate student from Jamaica.
Some news reports say Harris, who was born and raised in California, visited Thulasendrapuram as a child, but residents could not confirm if he ever did. (The Harris campaign did not respond to NPR’s request for comment). Harris often describes the significance of his childhood visits with his grandfather in Chennai, but does not mention his village in his memoirs, The Truth We Hold.
Even so, when President Biden dropped out of the US presidential race last month, Thulasendrapuram politician Arulmozhi Sudhakar and his wife started praying for Harris at a local temple, offering milk and coconuts to the deity daily.
The ritual attracted local and international attention. Two days after Harris emerged as the Democratic frontrunner, Arulmozhi was scheduled to give half a dozen interviews to reporters visiting his village. She wore a silk saree and sandalwood perfume and took the day off from her duties as an elected member of the city council.
“I can relate to (Harris’) struggle as a female politician,” she told NPR. What he admires most is Harris’ ability to “smile in the face of all political challenges.”
Arulmozhi Sudhakar pointed out the name of PV Gopalan, Kamala Harris’s grandfather, inscribed on the wall of a local Hindu temple. Harris’s own name is also inscribed on the temple wall. The temple trustees said Harris’ aunt who lives in India donated 5,000 rupees (about $60) in 2014 to the temple in her niece’s name.
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Four years ago, when Biden and Harris were elected, the people of Thulasendrapuram celebrated music and fireworks. The children were brought placard with the faces of Harris and women draw picture with colorful rangoli powder.
Back then, Arulmozhi put up a glowing billboard of Kamala Harris in the village, saluting her for honoring him. He also set this time, only the new board also included a portrait of Arulmozhi himself.
The guardian of the local temple, SV Ramanan, said this spectacle is usually for the media.
“Most people are happy not about Kamala Harris becoming president, but because they are in front of the TV cameras,” he said of the villagers.
NPR spoke to more than a dozen people in the village, located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Most of them are farmers or do odd jobs in nearby towns, earning a subsistence wage because they don’t have the opportunity to work at home.
Almost everyone is happy with Harris’ candidacy but can’t talk about any politicians, or what they see. At least they know him concern about India’s controversial decision to revoke the semi-autonomous status of Muslim-majority Kashmir, a region that many insist on an identity separate from India, or theirs. admit for Indian American actress Mindy Kaling who has never made dosas, a staple dish in Tamil Nadu.
Villagers holding a photo of Kamala Harris distribute sweets to celebrate Harris’ inauguration as US vice president in January 2021, in Harris’s ancestral village of Thulasendrapuram.
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Arulmozhi insists that Harris is “the country’s princess.”
“Mothers don’t raise children with expectations,” he said. “He celebrates his achievements as much as he does.”
Elsewhere in India, Harris’s bid for the White House has yet to spark its kind euphoria his vice president did four years ago, when many local politicians called it was a proud moment for India.
But one should not read too much into Harris’ Indian roots, he said Ashutosh Varshneypolitical scientist at Brown University.
“His Black identity is bigger than his Indian identity. And that’s only natural, because he grew up,” he said.
A view of the Sri Dharmasastha temple in Thulasendrapuram, July 23.
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Varshney added that there is no evidence that, if elected president, Harris would change US policy towards India. “The sweet spot that India has is that if America and China become the main adversaries, India will be seen by the United States and the West as a very important ally.”
Back in Thulasendrapuram, the media attention has had an unexpected benefit. Residents say that after the village appeared on TV in 2020, the local bank used the village for welfare work as part of its community outreach.
That’s the kind of help a local librarian, R. Usha, wants Harris to win – and pay for a visit.
“The road near my neighborhood is broken,” he said, adding that if Harris had come, the authorities would have rolled out the red carpet. And, he hopes, it will also cover potholes.
Vinodh Arulappan contributed to this story in Thulasendrapuram.
