US election: The tiny village in India which is cheering Kamala Harris on as she aims for the White House
“She has brought such glory to this village,” says a retired bank manager from Thulasendrapuram. “No one has ever done so much for us.”
They may be thousands of miles away, but everyone in the tiny village of Thulasendrapuram, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is keenly following the American presidential election.
It is because the hamlet is the ancestral hometown of Kamala Harris, the US vice president and Democratic presidential nominee.
It is the family ‘deity’ that binds her maternal lineage and her grandfather, PV Gopalan, to the village.
His daughter, Shyamala, left India at the age of 19 on a scholarship to study medicine in America, where Kamala and her younger sister Maya were born.
The family has never lived in the village but Kamala visited as a child.
Now, her presence is marked by posters that hang in shops and homes. A large banner prominently placed near the Sri Dharamshastra Temple calls her “the great daughter of the village”.
Her family has made several donations to the temple and an entry bears her name, after £46 was given by her aunt.
Retired bank manager, 80-year-old N Krishnamurthy, told Sky News: “She has brought such glory to this village. No one has ever done so much for us – even if they tried for decades and centuries.
“It’s unimaginable! Our village is world famous because of her, and we repeatedly thank her, wish her all the best and our blessings are always there.”
Another villager, Balaambika, said Ms Harris has “brought fame to womanhood – all the women here are so proud of her achievements”.
“I am inspired by her,” said Madhumita, a 19-year-old student.
Mani, who runs a grocery shop beside the temple, said: “We will be so happy and proud when she wins and will celebrate with sweets. But we will be even happier if she remembers our village – that would be enough for me.”
Lalita scans her mobile for news of the race. “We want her as president – her grandfather is from here.”
When the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, visited the United States in June 2023, Ms Harris said India was a “very important part of my life”.
She added: “When my sister Maya and I were growing up, our mother would take us from the Bay Area to India pretty much every other year. And the purposes of those trips were many, including that we would well understand where she came from, what produced her; and so that we could spend time with our grandparents, with my uncle, and our Chittis.”
Chitti is a Tamil term for aunt; Ms Harris was referring to her mother’s sisters.
Dr Sarala Gopalan, a retired gynaecologist living in Chennai, is Kamala Harris’s aunt. She worked in the NHS for a few years, during which time Ms Harris and her sister Maya visited her in Bristol.
“Right from her childhood we’ve seen her as an affectionate person, very caring, and [she] cannot see anyone in trouble,” Dr Gopalan said.
“She will jump in and will fight for the person. She was like that since a little girl.”
A close knit family, they met as often as possible whenever time and distance permitted. “We are always there for each other,” Dr Gopalan said.
She showed photographs of celebrations, Ms Harris wearing a saree and hugging her grandmother.
“My mother threw a party for Kamala and was very proud of her,” Dr Gopalan said.
At the time, Ms Harris was attorney general of California.
Ms Harris’s last visit to India, in 2009, was a solemn one: she was in Chennai to immerse her mother’s ashes – a Hindu tradition.
Dr Gopalan is unperturbed by disparaging remarks made against her niece. “I just ignore them,” she said.
“I know my niece. I know how much to believe. We know our daughter so we don’t listen to any gossip.”
She follows the race closely and watches all her niece’s speeches. “Nothing worries me. I don’t look at the pollsters’ strategies, I don’t look at who’s winning or losing, because I believe very strongly that God will do whatever is right for her.”
Read more:
Who is Kamala Harris?
Musk summoned to court over voter giveaways
Recalling her childhood visits, Ms Harris has said: “I would hold my grandfather’s hand on long walks on the beach with his retired buddies and [they] would debate the issues of the day.
“Throughout these walks, I recall my grandfather teaching me lessons about not just what it means to have a democracy, but to keep a democracy.
“And I do believe, it is these lessons that I learned at a very young age that first inspired my interest in public service.”
As the world eagerly awaits the results of the US elections, across the seas, residents of a tiny village pray for their daughter’s success.
