Several residents of Painganadu hamlet near Mannargudi basked in happiness as they came to know that the granddaughter of a man from the village has been named the running mate by Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden in the United States of America.
Kamala Harris, 55, who has been named as running mate of Mr. Biden, was born to a Jamaican, Donald Harris, and Shyamala, daughter of P.V. Gopalan, who hails from Painganadu in Tiruvarur district.
Gopalan, a stenographer with the East India Company, was sent to Zambia in 1930 by his employer to enumerate details of refugees who had sought asylum there. His daughter, Shyamala, married Donald Harris and settled in the United States.
Family donated funds
Stating that Gopalan used to visit the village occasionally, Ramani of Thulasendrapuram, near Painganadu, said Gopalan’s family had donated funds for the consecration of the Dharmasastha temple in the hamlet in 2014.
Raghavan, who is from Painganadu, said that Ms. Kamala Harris, in a book written by her, had termed Gopalan as her mentor and also recalled her conversations with her grandfather right from her childhood through letters and over telephone.
The villagers said they were waiting to hear that the third generation woman from their soil had got elected as the Vice-President of the U.S.
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