Kamala Harris: How much India resides within America’s first female Vice President?

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Kamala Harris has made history. She is the first woman, first black and first Asian-American Vice President of America.

He was sworn in as Vice President before Joe Biden. Harris, who is of Indo-Jamaican origin, initially wanted to become the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party but was later chosen by Joe Biden as his partner.

Biden had said for Kamala that ‘she is a fearless fighter for a small person’.

The day before he took the oath, he tweeted a video remembering his mother and women.

He wrote, “I am here today because of the women who came before me.”

Who is Kamala?

Kamla is a well-known black leader. But she has not left his Indian roots.

Kamala Harris wrote in her autobiography, ‘The Truth We Told’ in 2018, “People speak my name like a punctuation mark” Comma-la “.

After this, California Senator Kamala explains the meaning of her Indian name. Kamala is the child of a mother born in India and a father born in Jamaica.

Kamala says, “My name means ‘lotus flower’. It is very important in Indian culture. The lotus plant is under water. The flower blooms above the surface of the water. The roots are firmly attached to the river bed. Huh.”

Proud of shared breed heritage

Kamala and her sister Maya grew up in a house that used to resonate with the music of Black American artists. His mother, Aretha Franklin’s ‘Early Gospel’, used to hum and the father of economics at Stanford University was a jazz enthusiast. On his turntable, the records of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane kept playing.

When Kamla was five years old, her mother Shyamala Gopalan and father Donald Harris separated. Kamala and her sister were raised by their single Hindu mother. Cancer researcher and human rights activist Shyamala and her two daughters are known as “Shyamala and the Girls”.

Kamala’s mother ensured that both her daughters grew up knowing their background well.

Kamla writes in her autobiography. “My mother knew very well that she was raising two Black daughters. She knew that the country she chose to live in would see Maya and me only as Black girls. But she would She was determined that she would raise her daughters in such a way that she would come to the world as a confident black woman. “

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The Washington Post wrote last year, “Harris grew up growing up with her Indian culture, but she lives her African-American life gracefully.”

When she first contested for the Senate seat in 2015, ‘The Economist’ wrote, “Kamala’s mother is an Indian and father from Jamaica. Son of cancer researcher mother and economics professor father, Kamla is the first to go to the Senate. – American woman and California’s first Asian Attorney General. “

Kamala, 55, a member of the Senate, says that she prefers to be called an American instead of battling her identity. But those who know Kamla say that she mixes well in both communities.

Love indian traditions

While Kamala Harris started her presidential campaign, Indian-American comedian and actress Mindy Kaling posted a video on her YouTube page. In this, Kamala and Kalinga are seen cooking Indian food. In the video, the two are also seen talking about their shared South Indian background.

Kaling says that many people do not know about his Indian heritage. Whenever she meets American people of Indian origin they remind her about this heritage of Kamala.

Kaling is seen saying in this video, “We think you are just like us. We are thrilled with your campaign for the presidency.”

Kaling asks Harris if she grew up eating South Indian food. On this question, Kamla seems to take the name of South Indian food one after the other. She says that she grew up eating a lot of rice and curd, juicy vegetable potato, lentils and idli.

Kamla says that once she had reached her maternal grandfather in India, her maternal grandfather gently asked her if she would like to eat French toast made of eggs when she was not at home. (Eggs are considered as non-vegetarian food in India).

In her autobiography, Kamala writes about how she makes both Indian biryani and spaghetti bolognese at home.

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(On Tuesday, Kaling received a warm welcome for Kamala Harris’ presidential candidature. She wrote, “Today is a tremendous day, especially for my Black and Indian sisters.”)

When Kamla married lawyer Douglas Amphoff in 2014, it featured both Indian and Jewish traditions. Kamala gave Douglas a garland of flowers, while Douglas broke the glass by foot under Jewish tradition.

Identity as African-American political leader

Unlike this shared background, Kamala Harris’s image looks more strong as an African-American political leader. Particularly in the recent discussions during the Black Lives Matters movement in America, he was seen as an African-American political leader.

But people of Indian origin living in America also consider them as their own community. Their There is evidence of widespread identity.

Mother’s deep impression on Kamala’s life

It is quite clear that Kamla has a deep impression of her late mother in her life. Mother has been a big inspiration for Kamala. Kamala’s mother Shyamala Gopalan was born in Chennai. She was the eldest of four parents.

Kamala’s mother graduated from Delhi University at the age of 19. He then applied for the Graduate Program at Berkeley. For a university she had never seen and it was in a country where she had never been till now.

She left India in 1958 to pursue a PhD in Nutrition and Endocrinology. She later became a researcher in the field of breast cancer.

Kamala Harris says, “It is difficult for me to imagine how difficult it must have been for a maternal grandmother to let my mother out of India. Commercial air flights had started at that time. Getting in touch with each other Living was also very difficult. Even then when my mother asked for permission to go to California, my maternal grandmother did not refuse. “

Harris has written that his mother was expected to return to her country after completing her studies and marry her parents and settle here. But fate had some other sanction.

Kamala’s mother and father met in Berkeley. Taking part in the human rights movements, the two fell in love with each other. Kamala writes, “My mother decided to marry her lover and live in America. It was the culmination of self-determination and love”.

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In the year 1964, Shyamala Gopalan got her doctorate degree at the age of 25. The same year Kamala Harris was born. Kamala Harris writes that her mother went to work till delivery of both her daughters. She writes, “In the first case, the water of her womb had gone out. At that time she was working in the lab. In the second case this happened while making apple strudel.”

In India, Kamla’s mother was raised in a family that was associated with the political and civil movement.

Kamala’s maternal grandmother did not even study in high school, but she was supportive of women victims of domestic violence. She used to tell women about contraceptive measures. Kamala’s maternal grandfather PV Gopalan was a senior diplomat in the Government of India. He was sent here after the independence of Jamaica. He helped the refugees settle.

Kamla has not written much about her visits to India in her autobiography. But she writes that she was close to her maternal uncle and two aunts. His contact with him through phone and letter was maintained. Sometimes he travelled to India to meet them. Kamala Harris’s mother died in 2009 at the age of seventy.

Democratic Party activists like Shekhar Narasimhan said that Kamala’s candidature filled the Indian American community with enthusiasm. She is female She has ties to two races and will help Joe Biden in the presidential election. He is liked in many communities in the United States and he is really smart.

He says why should not Americans of Indian origin be proud of Kamala? His candidature tells us that the time in American society is ours.

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