As An Indian American, How I See Kamala Harris and Her Mother Shyamala Gopalan

On 22 August 2024, Kamala Harris formally became the first Black woman and first Indian American to lead the ticket of a major political party.

As an immigrant scientist from India, how do I relate to Kamala? Perhaps not much at first glance: our life journeys, working experiences, and social interactions have been much different, though we are both contemporary and have lived the last 25 years simultaneously in the United States of America. 

However, I connect very much with Kamala’s mother, a biologist, who saw scientific research as one of the vital pursuits for serving humanity.  I share with Dr. Shyamala Gopalan the experience of emigration from India to the U.S., and her solo traveling story to an unknown country resonates with me. I also share with her (and other female scientists from the past and present) a lived experience of working in a highly male-dominated workplace and culture. The scientific community and academia in the United States (like everywhere else) are primarily “boys’ clubs.”  We all have seen a group photo of the 5^th Solvay International Conference (taken in 1927). In this photograph, Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (Marie Curie) is the only female scientist, with 28 male scientists, including Albert Einstein. We have also seen similar photos of Dr. Barbara McClintock. I imagine that Dr. Gopalan would have dealt with more intense isolation. Unlike Curie and McClintock, she was a woman of color, a person of a religious minority, and perhaps clueless about the cultural norms of her adopted country at first.  

I cannot imagine how Dr. Gopalan mustered her courage to raise two beautiful daughters as a single mother. She did not have a tenured or secured job. She might have hopped from one short-term grant to another.  Even today, most women scientists do not have tenured positions; they are constantly dependent on short-term grants, often putting them in a state of hopelessness and desperation. I understand the loneliness of the scientific workplace for a female scientist of color and the pressure of constant chasing for funding.  Dr. Gopalan survived the “leaky pipeline” of academia that dropped and destroyed the careers of female scientists and did excellent scholarly work.  What makes Dr. Gopalan remarkable is that she learned to break the code of social isolation very effectively and created a community for herself. I wish someone had written the story of Dr. Gopalan. I would benefit from such a story, and many immigrants who adopted (or will adopt the United States as their home in the future) would have benefitted, too. 

Sometimes, a background becomes visible when light shines on the foreground, here on Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of Dr. Gopalan. The fearlessness and humility I see in Kamala remind me of some Gandhian principles — values of the Indian freedom struggle and Gandhian influence on the Gopalan family. India as a country has evolved in the last 77 years. The young generation of Indians and the Indian diaspora may now feel very distant from Gandhian ideals.  I feel happy that Kamala reminds the younger generation of less popular values, i.e., the worldview of kindness and humanity, the ability to connect and empathize with people of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and religions, fearlessness, and advocating for the weakest. I cherish those values in Kamala.

I am in awe of Kamala’s deep-rooted American pragmatism, strategic astuteness, oratorial skills, sense of service, risk-taking, and aggressiveness; there is much to learn from her. She serves as a great role model for all.

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In Hindi, Kamala means a goddess who brings prosperity to people, and in Urdu, Kamala means someone who can do wonderful things. Indeed, both meanings fit our Vice President, who describes herself on X (formerly Twitter) as “Fighting for the people. Wife, Momala, Auntie. She/her.”  

I hope Kamala brings prosperity, safety, and joy to the people of the United States and restores peace around the globe. Jai ho!

Dr. Sushma Naithani is an Indian American biologist and Hindi-English bilingual writer. 25 years ago, she emigrated from India to the USA. Naithani is deeply passionate about science communication and enhancing public scientific literacy and occasionally writes poetry and articles on other subjects in Hindi and English. She authored an open textbook, “History and Science of Cultivated Plants,” and another popular science book in Hindi (ANNA KAHAN SE AATA HAI) published by the National Book Trust of India.  She is an avid reader and loves Hindustani music and traveling.