Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th vice-president of the US on January 20, which significantly came in the midst of the 'Week of Prayer for Christian Unity' (Jan 18-25). She took the oath with her hand on the Bible (in fact 2 Bibles). The religious side of Kamala's life mirrors the unity of religions and the fact that one can hold strong religious beliefs yet engage with other faiths with equal felicity.
Kamala's mother Shyamala Gopalan was a Hindu from India who left India at the age of 19 for further studies. She died in 2009. Her father Donald Harris (83) from Jamaica is a Christian (Anglican). Her husband Doug Emhoff is Jewish. On family visits to India with her mother, little Kamala and her younger sister Maya visited several Hindu temples.
Kamala's parents divorced when she was only 7. Her mother took her to a nearby Hindu temple where she and her sister would sing occasionally. As her father was not around to take her to church, a neighbour Regina Shelton 'living downstairs', took Kamala and her sister to a Baptist Church on Sundays where they would sing in the children's choir. Regina would also read passages from the Bible to the girls and this formed the basis of her faith. Kamala used the same Bible at the Oath taking ceremony. Today Kamala identifies herself as a Black Baptist.
Kamala is at home to diverse religions. She now visits Hindu temples and Baptist churches. At one point in her life, when she was contesting for the post of Attorney General of California she asked her aunt in India to break coconuts in a Hindu temple for good luck in keeping with Hindu traditions. Her aunt arranged to have 108 coconuts broken, as the figure is lucky. And though Jews do not look at inter-faith marriages with favour, she broke a glass in keeping with Jewish traditions -- signifying the permanence of marriage, requiring couples to stay together in good times and bad . Kamala celebrates both Christmas and the Jewish Hanukkah--a religious festival.
In trying to find unity, Christians may take some cues from Kamala Harris' openness to all faiths while remaining steadfast to her own.
PROF ROBERT CASTELLINO, Calangute
