‘Desis’ take Chicago: Kamala Harris’ Indian American political family is thrilled



New Hampshire delegate Sumathi Madhure during the 2024 Democratic National Convention at United Center in Chicago on Monday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

By James Rainey and Faith E. Pinho
Aug. 20, 2024 3 AM PT

CHICAGO — To Sumathi Madhure, feeling different just came with the territory in her new country. From the time she arrived in Nashua, N.H., at age 20, the sense would wash over her on long drives to get to an Indian restaurant or while pushing her cart around the grocery store.
“When I saw another brown person in the supermarket, it was so rare, I would just invite them to my home for dinner,” Madhure said with a chuckle. “Building a sense of place, building a community; it doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t happen if you don’t make the effort.”

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Those who are immigrants themselves or have roots in India and other parts of South Asia gathered in Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention — many expressing elation at the impending ascension of Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee.

“To think that somebody who looks like her, somebody of South Asian descent, will be, perhaps, the president, be the most powerful person in the world,” Madhure began, pausing to visualize the image. “That’s just, it’s … well, it’s just beyond imagination.”

Madhure and hundreds of other “Desis,” as South Asians living abroad often refer to themselves, came together at a community center before Monday’s main convention session — responding with enthusiasm as politicos with similar roots described how their election had marked a first for their own communities in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona and other states.

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