Indian villagers celebrate inauguration of Kamala Harris as US Prime Minister

Indian villagers celebrate inauguration of Kamala Harris as US Prime Minister
January 20, 2021, 11:27 am

People holding placards with the photo of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris celebrate on the day of her inauguration in the village of Thulasendrapuram, where Harris' maternal grandfather was born and grew up, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, India, January 20, 2021. (Reuters)

Residents of the ancestral Indian village of Kamala Harris celebrated her inauguration as US vice president on Wednesday by setting off firecrackers and distributing food.

Thulasendrapuram, a leafy village about 320 km (200 miles) south of the city of Chennai, is where Harris’s maternal grandfather was born more than a century ago.

Calendars featuring the faces of Biden and Harris have been distributed throughout the village by a co-operative.

"A local politician conducted a special prayer and villagers have been distributing sweets and letting off crackers since the morning," said village shopkeeper G Manikandan.

The scenes were in contrast to the sombre mood in Washington - locked down due to security concerns and the threat of the novel coronavirus - where Biden and Harris are due to be sworn in later on Wednesday.

Harris, who was born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, both of whom immigrated to the United States to study, visited Thulasendrapuram when she was five and has recalled walks with her grandfather on the beach at Chennai.

Separately, artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created a sand sculpture featuring Biden and Harris.

Harris becomes the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American to win the second highest US office.

source: Reuters

Image source: Reuters

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