US VP-elect Kamala Harris’ ancestral village in South India celebrates her victory

Diwali, the festival of lights, has come a week ahead of its actual date at Thulasendrapuram, the village where US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' mother comes from, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Going by media reports in Tamil language dailies, residents of the Thulasendrapuram offered prayers at a local temple and offered "idli and sambar" free of cost to devotes there in the run-up to the US elections, and now wears a festive look ahead of Diwali next week.

Many houses in the village have in front of them "alpana" extending wishes to Kamala Harris, the reports said.

Kamala Harris was born to Shyamala Gopalan, an Indian immigrant and Donald Harris, a Jamaica-born man, in California.

Harris's ancestral village from her mother's side is Thulasendrapuram in Tiruvarur district.

In Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, an elated maternal aunt of Kamala Harris -- who made history by becoming the first Indian-origin and Black American to ascend to the chair of Vice President of the United States -- is elated over her niece's feat and now hopes to attend her swearing-in ceremony.

Harris' aunt Sarala Gopalan, a veteran doctor at a voluntary health service in Chennai, said today that she couldn't speak to Harris, who has her roots in a village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on Saturday as she spent the entire day waiting for the announcement of her victory.

"How do you think I should feel about her victory? I feel very happy," said the senior consultant at the voluntary health services.

"I was waiting for the announcement till late in the night...I felt tired and had to retire for the night," she added.

"Hopefully," was her response when asked if she would attend the swearing-in ceremony of her niece in the US.

A few years ago, after Harris called her up with a request, Dr Gopalan broke 108 coconuts at a temple in Chennai in keeping with the traditional practice.

When Joe Biden picked her as his running mate, Kamala Harris had pointed to her Indian roots in her acceptance speech and talked about her trips to Tamil Nadu as a child and the support she got from her aunts.