Kamala Harris's extended family may go to US for swearing-in

When Kamala Harris takes the oath of office as the first woman vice-president of the US in January 2021, watching her proudly from the audience along with lakhs of people could be her extended family from India.

“Probably, we all will go to the US,” Dr Sarala Gopalan, Kamala Harris' Chennai-based aunt, told Deccan Herald, in her first reaction to her niece's historic win in the US elections. Her uncle, Balachandran Gopalan, also said the family plans to travel to watch Harris' swearing-in ceremony.

The extended family was by Harris's side when she was sworn-in as a Senator in 2017.

Dr Sarala said she came to know about Harris' election as V-P only on Sunday morning as the announcement came late Saturday night. “I was waiting for the announcement till late night. When it did not come, I went to sleep. I came to know in the morning,” she said.

“Of course, we are very happy that she has been able to achieve what she wanted. Not just that, she has created history by becoming the first woman V-P of the US. We are very happy for Kamala,” Dr Sarala, an obstetrician and gynecologist based here, said.

'Kamala will call when she is free'

Harris had spoken about her chithi more than once in the past. As she accepted the Democratic nomination for V-P in August, she said her mother had taught her to put family first.

“Family, is my husband Doug, who I met on a blind date set up by my best friend. Family is our beautiful children, Cole and Ella, who as you just heard, call me Momala. My family is my sister. Family is my best friend, my nieces and my godchildren. Family is my uncles, my aunts and my chithis,” she had said in August.

Since the announcement came late on Saturday night, Dr Sarala has not yet spoken to her niece. “It was quite late when the announcement was made. She will call me whenever she finds time,” Dr Sarala added.

Harris' mother Dr Shyamala Gopalan went to the US at the age of 19 to pursue her higher studies and married a Jamaican Donald Harris. She divorced him ten years later and raised her children – Kamala and Maya – on her own.

“My sister would have been the happiest person today if she was alive. But I am sure she is smiling from wherever she is,” Dr Sarala added.

Aunt will pray before family deity

Dr Shyamala was the eldest of P V Gopalan's four children. While Dr Sarala and Balachandran Gopalan live in India, their other sister lives in Canada.

Gopalan, who was an Indian diplomat, had inspired Harris deeply that the US Senator had herself recalled how the former had shaped her life and served as the greatest inspiration besides her mother.

Dr Sarala also added that she would soon travel to her native village, Painganadu-Thulasendrapuram, 350 km from here, to offer prayers for Harris. Special poojas and abhishekams were conducted at the Dharma Sastha Ayyanar temple in the village for Harris' victory on the day the US went to the polls.

Harris had always been a person who was connected to her roots. “She (Kamala Harris) is a person who never forgets her roots and believes in family values inculcated in her by my sister. Even today, she calls me chithi (mother’s younger sister) and she has always been a caring person,” Dr Sarala had told DH in August.