ASIA / PACIFIC
Page 4 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
December 7, 2020
Indians in Harris’ ancestral
home woke up to her victory
By Aijaz Rahi
The Associated Press
T
HULASENDRAPURAM, India —
After rooting for Kamala Harris as
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s
running mate, people in her small
ancestral Indian village woke up on a
Sunday last month to the news of her
making history.
Most of them had gone to sleep by the
time Biden clinched the winning threshold
of 270 Electoral College votes.
“Congratulations Kamala Harris. Pride
of our village. Vanakkam (Greetings)
America,” one female resident wrote in
color powder outside her residence.
“We all have been waiting for this day.
Congratulations,” Aulmozhi Sudhakar, a
village councillor, said.
The village of Thulasendrapuram,
population 350, celebrated Harris’ success
with singing, dancing, and firecrackers at
a temple later that Sunday. Already in the
morning hours, groups gathered at street
corners reading newspapers and chatting
about the Democrats’ victory before
moving to the temple for prayers.
Cutouts and posters wishing Harris a
“grand success” adorned the village walls.
“Kamala Harris is the daughter of our
village. From children to senior citizens,
each one of us is awaiting the day she
would take oath as the vice president of the
U.S.,” said Sudhakar.
J. Sudhakar, who organized prayers on
Election Day, expressed his wish that
Harris should now visit the village. As
Americans voted, nearly 50 residents, with
folded hands, lined up in the temple that
reverberated with the sounds of ringing
bells, and a Hindu priest gave them sweets
and flowers as a religious offering.
Women in the village, located 215 miles
from the southern coastal city of Chennai,
used bright colors to write “We Wish
Kamala Harris Wins” on the ground,
alongside a thumbs-up sign.
The lush green village is the hometown
of Harris’ maternal grandfather.
Inside the temple where people had been
holding special prayers, Harris’ name is
sculpted into a stone that lists public
donations made to the temple in 2014,
SPENDY SPICE. Kashmiri farmers pluck crocus flowers — the stigma of which produces saffron — on a
farm in Khrew, south of Srinagar, in Indian controlled Kashmir. At the end of autumn, families in the Muslim-ma-
jority region race against the clock to harvest the saffron crocus flowers, which bloom for only two weeks a year.
(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)
From a flower in Kashmir
comes a precious spice
By Dar Yasin
The Associated Press
RINAGAR, India — Cradled by low
mountains and spread across a vast
expanse of small, fertile fields, a sea
of purple flowers opens in Himalayan
Kashmir to produce one of the world’s most
precious spices, saffron.
At the end of autumn, families in the
Muslim-majority region race against the
clock to harvest the saffron crocus flowers,
which bloom for only two weeks a year.
Men, women, and children stoop as they
laboriously pick the delicate flowers and
place them in wicker baskets.
They next separate the purple petals by
hand, and from each flower comes three
tiny, delicate stigmas which are then dried
in the sun, becoming one of the most
expensive and sought-after spices.
Across the world, saffron is used in
products ranging from food to medicine
and cosmetics. A kilogram (2.2 pounds)
requires the stigmas of about 150,000
flowers and can easily sell for between
$3,000 and $4,000.
In Kashmir, the spice is a source of pride
and has fuelled the region’s economy and
culture for centuries. But over the years its
S
cultivation has faced troubles due to
climate change, poor irrigation facilities,
and imports of cheaper Iranian saffron.
Strife in the region has also impacted its
production and export. For decades, a
separatist movement has fought Indian
rule in Kashmir, which is divided between
India and Pakistan and claimed by both.
Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels, and
government forces have died in the
conflict.
To boost saffron’s cultivation and export,
authorities in Kashmir have set up a
high-tech spice park to increase
production quality and quantity. But very
few farmers find the latest technology
lucrative and most still use century-old
techniques for picking and drying the
saffron.
Most of Kashmir’s saffron is grown in
Pampore, a tiny town south of the region’s
main city, Srinagar.
In Kashmir, the spice is mostly used in
Kehwa, a slow-brewed sugary green tea
infused with spices like cinnamon and
cardamom and garnished with almonds.
Saffron is also used in Wazwan, a
traditional Kashmiri wedding meal cooked
by special chefs that includes more than 30
dishes.
INDIA CONNECTION. Indian women prepare a
Kolam, traditional artwork created using colored pow-
der, congratulating U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala
Harris in the hometown of Harris’ maternal grandfa-
ther, in Thulasendrapuram, south of Chennai, Tamil
Nadu state, India. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
along with that of her grandfather who
gave money decades ago.
Harris’ late mother also was born in
India, before moving to the U.S. at the age
of 19 to study at the University of
California. She married a Jamaican, and
they named their daughter Kamala,
Sanskrit for “lotus flower.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi
in a tweet described Harris’ success as
pathbreaking, and a matter of immense
pride not just for her relatives but also for
all Indian Americans. “I am confident that
the vibrant India-U.S. ties will get even
stronger with your support and
leadership.”
There had been both excitement — and
some concern — over Biden’s choice of
Harris as his running mate.
Modi had invested in President Donald
Trump, who visited India in February.
Modi’s many Hindu nationalist supporters
also were upset with Harris when she
expressed concern about the divided
Himalayan region of Kashmir, whose
statehood India’s government revoked in
August last year.
Harris stood by Pramila Jayapal,
another U.S. congresswoman of Indian
origin, when India’s external affairs
minister, S. Jaishankar, refused to attend
a meeting in the United States over her
participation last year. Jayapal had
earlier moved a resolution on the Kashmir
issue critical of India in the House of
Representatives.
Rights groups accuse India of human-
Continued on page 11
Black Pearl Acupuncture
Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine
are great for:
A LEADING
TRUSTED
FRANCHISOR OF
COMMERCIAL
CLEANING
SERVICES,
WANTS YOU!
5
4
9
3
- Acute/Chronic Pain (i.e. neck, back,
sciatica & shoulder)
- Treating & Preventing the flu and colds
- Stress Relief
- Headaches/Migraines
7
6
www.blackpearlacupuncture.com
5
Difficulty
EASY
CALL TO FIND OUT HOW TODAY!
(971)
371-5995
1-000-111-2222
level: Easy
505 N.W. Ninth Ave., Portland, OR 97209
GRASS-FED
BEEF FOR SALE
#54379
# 50
Instructions: Fill in the grid so that the digits 1
through 9 appear one time each in every row, col-
umn, and 3x3 box.
Solution to
last issue’s
puzzle
Puzzle #36243 (Hard)
®
seasymonettea@gmail.com
Call to schedule an appointment: (503) 308-9363
3
5
9
6
4 6
7 5
9
8
1 5
8 2
8
1
2
9
1
8
4
7
3
4
6
Own your own business today.
No experience needed.
Low cost start-up.
In-house financing available.
Sita Symonette
Licensed Acupuncturist
All solutions available at
<www.sudoku.com>.
8
6
5
4
3
7
2
1
9
1
2
4
8
9
6
7
3
5
7
9
3
1
5
2
4
8
6
5
8
1
9
7
4
3
6
2
2
4
6
3
8
1
9
5
7
9
3
7
2
6
5
8
4
1
4
7
2
5
1
3
6
9
8
3
1
9
6
2
8
5
7
4
6
5
8
7
4
9
1
2
3
Call (503) 980-5900 for details
GRASS-FED & GRASS-FINISHED BEEF
Farm-raised in Newberg, Oregon
Beef available as:
q Quarter cow q Half cow q Whole cow
Beef is processed by a Portland butcher.
Pickup available in December at N.E. Sandy Blvd. location.