Di tiny Indian village wey claim Kamala Harris as dia own
Thulasendhrapuram, one tiny village around 300km from di south Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras) and 14,000 km from Washington DC, na wia Kamala Harris maternal grandparents come from.
Di centre of di village currently dey proudly display one large banner of Ms Harris, 59.
Dem also dey offer special prayers to di local deity for her success - Ms Harris and her maternal grandfather name dey on di list of donors to di village temple - and also dey distribute sweets.
Villagers dey closely observe di US presidential race as Joe Biden withdraw from di race and Ms Harris begin rise as di possible nominee.
“Dis no be easy time to achieve to dey wia she don reach for di most powerful kontri in di world,” na so Krishnamurthi, a retired bank manager tok.
“We really dey proud of her. Once Indians bin dey ruled by foreigners, now Indians na im dey lead powerful nations.”
Dia is also a sense of pride, especially among women. Dem dey see Ms Harris as one of dia own, a symbol of wetin dey possible for women evriwia.
“Evribodi know her, even di children. ‘My sister, my mother’ - dat na how dem dey address her,” na so Arulmozhi Sudhakar, one village local body representative tok.
End of Di one wey oda users dey read well well
“We dey happy say she never forget her roots and we express our happiness."
Di excitement and papparazzi na reminder of how villagers enta streets with fireworks, posters and calendars wen Ms Harris become di vice president.
Dem hold a communal feast wia hundreds enjoy traditional south Indian dishes like sambar and idli, wey according to one of Ms Harris relatives, dey among her favourite foods to eat.
Indian Roots
Ms Harris na di daughter of Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher, wey come from di southern state of Tamil Nadu, before dem move to di US in 1958. Gopalan parents na from Thulasendhrapuram.
“My mother, Shyamala, come to di US from India alone at 19. She bin be a force – a scientist, a civil rights activist, and a mother wey put a sense of pride inside her two daughters,” Ms Harris tok for one social media post last year.
Ms Harris visit Chennai with her sister Maya after dia mama die, and pour her ashes for di sea according to Hindu traditions, according to one report for The Hindu newspaper .
Ms Harris come from a family of high achievers. Her maternal uncle Gopalan Balachandran na academic. Im grandfather PV Gopalan, rise to become an Indian bureaucrat, and im bin be an expert on refugee resettlement.
E also serve as an advisor to Zambia first president in di 1960s.
“She (Kamala) don be a prominent figure for quite a while now. E no be great surprise. Sometin like dis bin dey on di cards for many years,” na so R Rajaraman, wey be emeritus professor of theoretical physics for Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University and a classmate of Ms Harris mama tok.
Prof Rajaraman say im bin lose touch with Shyamala but meet her again in di mid 1970s wen im bin travel to di US and meet Ms Gopalan for Berkeley.
“Shyamala bin dey dia. She give me a cup of tea. Dis two children (Kamala and her sister Maya) bin dey dia. Dem bin no pay attention,” e recall.
“Both of dem dey enterprising. E get a positivity inside her mama, wey also dey in Kamala.”
Back for Thulasenhrapuram, villagers dey anticipate di announcement of her candidature soon.
"Kamala chithi (her mother younger sister) Sarala dey visit dis temple regularly. For 2014 she bin donate 5,000 rupees ($60; £46) on behalf of Kamala Harris," Natarajan, di temple priest tok.
Natarajan dey confident say dia prayers go help Ms Harris win di election.
Di villagers say dem fit dey thousands of miles away from di US, but dem feel connected with her journey. Dem hope say she go visit dem someday or di village go find a mention inside her speech.
