Kamala Harris, 55, who became the first black woman and first Indian-American to be a vice-presidential running mate, is proud of her Indian roots. Her Tamilian mother taught Kamala and sister Maya to be proud of their culture and her fondest memories of India are the walks along the beach in Chennai, then called Madras.

By picking the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica as his running mate, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden has clearly sent a message to President Donald Trump, who is seen to be largely anti-immigrants. The nomination also tilted in her favour because of her formidable record as a Senator and a prosecutor, that she shines as a debater is an added attraction. Her mixed-race lineage also makes her appeal cut across identities and reach mixed voting segments.

Read: Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as his running mate

Kamala Harris, in her media interviews, has often spoken about her Indian roots and her earliest memories of beach walks with her grandfather PV Gopalan, a freedom fighter and later an under secretary to Government of India in the ministry of transport. Her mother Shyamala Gopalan was born in Chennai and immigrated to the US to attend a doctoral programme at UC Berkeley. Kamala  remembers her beach walks with her grandfather after he retired and lived in Besant Nagar, in Madras.

“They would laugh and voice opinions and argue, and those conversations, even more than their actions, had such a strong influence on me in terms of learning to be responsible, to be honest, and to have integrity,” Harris, who is married to attorney Douglas Emhoff, told India Abroad in a 2009 interview.

Read: Kamala Harris: The trailblazer who went from Joe Biden’s rival to running mate

In her memoir Kamala wrote , “There is no title or honor on earth I’ll treasure more than to say I am Shyamala Gopalan Harris’s daughter. That is the truth I hold dearest of all”.

Kamala’s parents divorced when she was seven and her mother passed away in 2009. Her sister Maya is a political analyst and worked in the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.