Will Kamala Harris don a saree for Inauguration Day to brandish her Indian heritage?

Web Desk

January 19, 2021

The viral picture of Kamala Harris with her family. Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@DRKrupali

A photograph of a young Kamala Harris sitting on a couch in a sari with her Indian grandparents has already taken social media by storm.
Many are expecting the US vice-president elect to don a sari on her inauguration day.
The sari, which is traditional wear in South Asia, holds thousands of years of cultural significance within its six yards, and is ubiquitous in India.

Amid a myriad security concerns and coronavirus threats looming over the United States, the nation's first Black and South Asian vice president, Kamala Harris will assume office on January 20.

However, a question spinning around everyone's mind is whether or not Harris will don a traditional saree on Inauguration Day to invoke her Indian heritage.

The sari, which is traditional wear in South Asia, holds thousands of years of cultural significance within its six yards, and is ubiquitous in India.

Harris was born to immigrants to the United States — her father from Jamaica, her mother from India — and their lives and her own have in some ways embodied the American dream.

She was born on October 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, then a hub for civil rights and anti-war activism.

According to a CNN report, the question has been posed to Harris before — during her own presidential campaign in 2019 when an audience member lightheartedly asked Harris if she would wear traditional Indian garments to her inauguration if she were elected president.

"Let's first win," Harris had said, smiling.

"My mother raised us with a very strong appreciation for our cultural background and pride. Celebrations that we all participate in regardless of how our last name is spelled. It's the beauty of who we are as a nation."

Speaking on the matter, fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra in a phone interview from Brunswick, Georgia said that she wouldn't be surprised if we see her show up to the inauguration ball in a beautifully woven Banarsi sari. "I think she understands the power of that image, "Mohapatra remarked.

Meanwhile, a photograph of a young Harris sitting on a couch in a sari with her Indian grandparents has already taken social media by storm.

Commenting on the photo, Mohapatra who was born and raised in Odisha, India, said: "It immediately brought to me an instant connection to my South Asian roots, I've always seen (Harris) as a strong person with a dynamic career. I'd known of her accomplishments and the contributions she has made to our nation, but that image of her in a sari made her familiar to me. I felt like she could be a part of my family, or a good friend, talking to me in my kitchen."

With fingers crossed, for now, it can be said that an image of her in a sari on inauguration day could be groundbreaking.