Indian village cheers for Harris before swearing-in as US VP
A banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with a message wishing her the best is displayed in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held today. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
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THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — A tiny, lush-green Indian village surrounded by rice paddy fields was beaming with joy Wednesday hours before its descendant, Kamala Harris, takes her oath of office and becomes the U.S. vice president.
Harris is set to make history as the first woman, first woman of color and first person of South Asian descent to hold the vice presidency.
In her maternal grandfather’s hometown of Thulasendrapuram, about 215 miles from the southern coastal city of Chennai, people were jubilant and gearing up for celebrations.
“We are feeling very proud that an Indian is being elected as the vice president of America,” said Anukampa Madhavasimhan, 52, a teacher.
Harris’ grandfather moved to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, decades ago. Harris’ late mother was also born in India, before moving to the U.S. to study at the University of California. She married a Jamaican man, and they named their daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit word for “lotus flower.”
An Indian villager unloads paddy from a truck next to a banner displaying photographs of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held Wednesday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
A villager hangs a calendar featuring photographs of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris inside a wedding hall in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The inaugural ceremony for Biden and Harris is scheduled be held Wednesday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
Officials of a Hindu temple open a box full of packaged food and sweets sent by a non-government organization to be distributed among villagers ahead of the inauguration of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held Wednesday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
Schoolgirls carry boxes of packaged food and sweets sent by a non-government organization to be distributed among school children and villagers ahead of the inauguration of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held Wednesday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
An Indian villager stands in front of a banner displaying photographs of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held Wednesday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
Indian villagers gather outside a local eatery next to a banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with a message wishing her best, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A tiny village in a remote part of South India is gearing up for celebrations ahead of Kamala Harris’ inauguration as the first female vice president of the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
The name of U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is made from ingredients of a local savory Murukku at a village house, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A tiny village in a remote part of South India is gearing up for celebrations ahead of Kamala Harris’ inauguration as the first female vice president of the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
A worker prepares a traditional snack next to a banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, lying outside a local eatery in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A tiny village in a remote part of South India is gearing up for celebrations ahead of Kamala Harris’ inauguration as the first female vice president of the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
A banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with a message wishing her the best is displayed in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is scheduled be held today. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
An Indian villager walks past a banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris with a message wishing her best, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A tiny village in a remote part of South India is gearing up for celebrations ahead of Kamala Harris’ inauguration as the first female vice president of the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi) 
Villagers spend time next to a banner featuring U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, background right, in Thulasendrapuram, the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfather, south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A tiny village in a remote part of South India is gearing up for celebrations ahead of Kamala Harris’ inauguration as the first female vice president of the United States. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Ahead of the U.S. elections in November, villagers in Thulasendrapuram had pulled together a ceremony at the main Hindu temple to wish Harris good luck. After her win, they set off firecrackers and distributed sweets and flowers as a religious offering.
Posters of Harris from the November celebrations still adorn walls in the village and many hope she ascends to the presidency in 2024. President-elect Joe Biden has skirted questions about whether he will seek reelection or retire.
“For the next four years, if she supports India, she will be the president,” said G Manikandan, 40, who has followed her politically and whose shop proudly displays a wall calendar with pictures of Biden and Harris.
Ahead of the inauguration, special prayers for her success are expected to be held at the local temple during which the idol of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva, will be washed with milk and decked with flowers by the priest.
On Tuesday, an organization that promotes vegetarianism sent food packets for the village children as gifts to celebrate Harris’ success.
