Kamala Harris mentions 'chithis' in her speech, sends Twitter into a tizzy

NEW DELHI: Kamala Harris scripted history on Wednesday as she became the first Indian-American and also the first Black woman to accept the nomination for vice-president from a major political party in the US.
Harris, 55, was nominated as the vice-presidential candidate on Wednesday at the virtual Democratic National Convention.
In her acceptance speech, Harris profoundly remembered her mother Shyamala Gopalan from Tamil Nadu. Harris said her mother raised her and her sister "to be proud, strong Black women. And she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. She taught us to put family first— the family you're born into and the family you choose."
In reference to her Indian heritage, Harris used a Tamil expression in speaking of "my uncles, my aunts — my chithis."
"Chithi" means aunt in Tamil and Kamala Harris using the word during her speech came as a pleasant surprise for many in India and the US.
The word "Chithi" set the desi Twitter abuzz as many people pointed out that this was the first time that a Tamil word was spoken at such a convention.
For most people in India, particularly Tamilians, it was an emotional moment who could connect with the word. The speech soon went viral on social media even as the search for the word "chithi" spiked on Google.
The vice-presidential candidate's niece Meena Harris also joined the Twitterati.











Harris opened her vice-presidential acceptance speech on Wednesday night at the virtual Democratic National Convention by remembering her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, lamenting the fact that she could not be there to see her daughter's achievement.
“My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she's looking down on me from above," she said.
Harris' mother died of cancer in 2009.

Harris is the first Indian-American to be selected for the second-highest elected office of the United States after that of the president.
She is also the first-ever Black and first-ever African American to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate by a major political party.
If elected in the November 3 presidential elections, Harris, whose mother is from India and father from Jamaica, would be the first-ever women vice president of the United States.
In Video:Kamala Harris: Why my Indian mother always put 'family first'