India is praying for Kamala and Usha

I am baffled beyond words as to why so many of us in India are going ga-ga and being insanely suffused with vicarious joy and pride whenever a person of Indian origin makes a mark in the world of politics, industry, sport or any other field of endeavour in the western hemisphere. When Rishi Sunak was tipped to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, our television channels and newspapers just could not get enough of him. Going berserk would be an understatement. We are not inclined to do that when the Prime Minister of Poland is elected. Unless, of course, his grandparents happened to be natives of Kumbakonam. At least Sunak’s wife is the daughter of one of India’s original IT czars and she hails from true blue Indian stock. The erstwhile incumbent at No. 10 Downing Street is no more Indian than our PM Modi is British. Now that Rishi has been shown the door, in a manner of speaking, and the Labour Party chief Keir Starmer has assumed office as Prime Minister, the occidentals in the UK are heaving a sigh of relief. But not before Starmer went around visiting Hindu temples and Gurdwaras to pay obeisance to the Indian diaspora. Every single vote counts. Welcome to Little India, Keir. We are everywhere. Others like Priti Patel and Suella Braverman will be breathing down your neck if you make one false move.

Then there is Kamala Harris. Joe Biden finally decided he will step down as the Presidential candidate for the upcoming election and after some hesitation, make way for his Vice President Harris to be his party’s nominee for the White House. For this to happen, Biden had to remember Kamala’s name, but his staff came to his rescue and bailed him out.  Earlier he had introduced his good lady Vice President as ‘a great President’ at a function. Perhaps he knew something he himself did not know at the time. That may sound nonsensical, but the man, in recent times referred to Ukraine’s chief Zelensky at a NATO Summit in Washington as President Putin. Ye Gods! Zelensky put a brave face on it. Not quite sleeping with the enemy but close enough. Biden could have built a mansion with the number of bricks he kept dropping. That he has decided to call it a day has been received by the American public with undisguised approbation. Not a day too soon, they seem to be saying.

Enough of the stuttering detour about Biden who, let’s face it, could just about manage to put one hesitating foot in front of the other. To get back to Kamala Harris, as the whole world knows, she is part Indian and part West Indian. By that I do not mean Mumbai or Maharashtra but more like Jamaica. Kamala’s mother, as every Indian is aware, hails from Tamil Nadu. More specifically, her maternal grandparents live in Chennai, and Kamala speaks with practiced ease about idlis and dosas, than which, you cannot get more south Indian if you tried. Kamala certainly tries hard which, at times, can get a bit trying.

If Kamala Harris is equally at home with quintessential Jamaican dishes like ackee, saltfish and jerk chicken, then that is something we in India are yet to learn about. Perhaps the burghers of Jamaica can put us wise on her culinary preferences. Meanwhile, pujas are being performed in various parts of Tamil Nadu to ensure the Gods look favourably upon Kamala when the results are gathered in come November. The market for the lotus flower in various parts of Tamil Nadu is distinctly bullish. All part of the offerings to propitiate the Gods. To those who may not have cottoned on to the connection, the Sanskrit term for lotus is kamala. Since I am drawing a parallel with a species of flower, the capitalisation of the word is redundant. LOTUS for POTUS, or its Tamil equivalent, is the cry ringing out in many parts of Tamil Nadu.

Lest we forget, the wife of the Republican Party’s vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance, is none other than Usha Chilukuri. A few weeks ago, we would have said ‘Usha who?’ A highly qualified lawyer, Usha’s family originates from the West Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh. That being the case, one can expect celebrations and divine propitiations galore in various parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telengana. Sworn enemies in domestic politics in India, the populace from both these twin states will be visiting holy shrines to ensure their daughter Usha, her husband Vance and the boss supremo of their party, Donald, come up trumps at the upcoming hustings. Respective Chief Ministers Chandrababu Naidu and Revanth Reddy could find themselves on the same side of the fence because Madam Chilukuri, thousands of miles away in the United States but boasting a Telugu bloodline, could be America’s second lady.

What a prospect all these political rumblings in the USA promises to reflect here in India that is Bharat. The people of Tamil Nadu are hurling lotuses and other goodies at their places of worship to ensure a Democrat claiming half-Tamil Nadu origin will grace the White House. Whereas, their next-door neighbours, Andhra and Telengana are doing everything they can to bring in a Republican to the same White House, such that they can enjoy bragging rights over their daughter Usha, holding the Vice-President’s hand. And who knows, perhaps move into the White House if the next mad marksman atop a building manages to hit bullseye as his crosshairs zero in on the President, God forbid. Now that India’s own election circus is well and truly over, we can all have some fun watching Indians or People of Indian Origin shine on either side of the political divide in America.

Over the past couple of decades, Indians have come to dominate the business landscape in the west, particularly in the United States. The Nadellas, the Pichais, the Bangas, the Nooyis, not to mention the Vivek Ramaswamys and the Nicky Haleys and so many more have been calling the shots in various fields of endeavour. And now, our brethren and sistren (even if only by accident of birth) are showing their mettle on the world’s biggest political stage. In a sense, therefore, we can take some pride in these developments, but it is little more than a chimera, and the comfort we in India derive is cold. America is a melting pot, the proverbial land of opportunity with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Their egalitarian ways allow every denomination of the public to live and prosper, if it has what it takes. Some of them migrated from India, some of them were born there but their inborn, genetic brain power is now finding full and glorious expression. Why do so many Indian-origin boys and girls routinely win spelling bee contests abroad, I ask rhetorically. To say nothing of crooning their way to ecstatic, tear-jerking glory on American Idol. Increasingly, on American and British television serials, more and more Indian migrants are featuring in important roles. In recent years, many American-Indian children have taken to Carnatic music and have made a significant mark in their ancestral homes in the four main states of south India.

I guess the point I am striving to make to all my gloating friends in India is this. Kamala Harris, Usha Chilukuri and Rishi Sunak are not Indians. They are full-blown Americans or British, even if they pay obeisance to Lord Ganesha and celebrate Deepavali. They will not go soft on India if and when they come to power simply because they happen to be brown-skinned and their parents speak Tamil, Telugu or Punjabi at home. They may enjoy a plate of idli, chutney and sambhar for breakfast or aloo parantha and chicken tikka masala for lunch. I too enjoy fish and chips, Yorkshire pudding or shepherd’s pie once in a rare while, washed down with a tall glass of Guinness. Does that make me a dyed-in-the-wool Englishman?

I rest my case.