By Canadian Press

Firecrackers and prayers as Indians celebrate Harris’ win

Nov 7, 2020 | 11:24 PM

THULASENDRAPURAM, India — Waking up to the news of Kamala Harris’ election as Joe Biden’s running mate, overjoyed people in her Indian grandfather’s hometown are setting off firecrackers, carrying her placards and offering prayers.

Groups gathered at street corners of the tiny village of Thulasendrapuram, population 350, reading newspapers and chatting about the Democrats’ victory before moving to the temple.

A woman wrote in colour powder outside her home: “Congratulations Kamala Harris. Pride of our village. Vanakkam (Greetings) America.”

Most of them had gone to sleep by the time Biden clinched the winning threshold of 270 Electoral College votes, making Harris the first woman and the first person of South Asian descent to be elected vice-president.

“For two or three days we kept our fingers crossed while the result was delayed,” said resident Kalidas Vamdayar.

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“Now it’s a joyful moment for us. We are enjoying it. We will celebrate with firecrackers, distributing Indian sweets to people and praying in the temple. We will request her to come here. She would have heard our voice and she may come.”

Tamil Nadu state Food Minister R. Kamraj led about 100 people at the Dharma Sastha temple for a 20-minute prayer during which the idol of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva, was washed with milk and decked with flowers by the priest. He chanted hymns after lighting oil lamps, and the villagers bowed their heads in respect.

“Kamala Harris is the daughter of our village. From children to senior citizens, each one of us is awaiting the day she would take oath as the vice-president of the U.S.,” said Aulmozhi Sudhakar, a village councillor.

More singing, dancing and firecrackers are planned Sunday in the village, where cutouts and posters wishing Harris a “grand success” adorn many walls.

J. Sudhakar, who organized prayers on Election Day, expressed his wish that Harris should visit. As Americans voted, nearly 50 residents, with folded hands, lined up in the temple that reverberated with the sound of ringing bells, and a Hindu priest gave them sweets and flowers as a religious offering.

Women in the village, located 350 kilometres (215 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, used bright colours to write “We Wish Kamala Harris Wins” on the ground, alongside a thumbs-up sign.

The lush green village is the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, who had moved to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, decades ago.

Inside the temple where people have been holding special prayers, Harris’ name is sculpted into a stone that lists public donations made to the temple in 2014, along with that of her grandfather who gave money decades ago.

Harris’ late mother also was born in India, before moving to the U.S. at the age of 19 to study at the University of California. She married a Jamaican, and they named their daughter Kamala, Sanskrit for “lotus flower.”

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet described Harris’ success as pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for her relatives but also for all Indian-Americans. “I am confident that the vibrant India-US ties will get even stronger with your support and leadership.”

There has been both excitement — and some concern — over Biden’s choice of Harris as his running mate.

Modi had invested in President Donald Trump, who visited India in February. Modi’s many Hindu nationalist supporters also were upset with Harris when she expressed concern about the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, whose statehood India’s government revoked in August last year.

Harris stood by Pramila Jayapal, another U.S. congresswoman of Indian origin, when India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar refused to attend a meeting in the United States over her participation last year. Jayapal had earlier moved a resolution on the Kashmir issue critical of India in the House of Representatives.

Rights groups accuse India of human rights violations in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where insurgent groups have been fighting for independence or merger with neighbouring Pakistan since 1989.

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This story has been corrected to show that Harris’ maternal grandfather had moved to Chennai, not the U.S.

Aijaz Rahi, The Associated Press