What happened on January 20: Kamala Harris sworn in as US Vice-President and how India celebrated it

She is the first Indian-origin woman Vice-President of the United States of America and her swearing-in was no less than a festival in Thulasendrapuram, Tamil Nadu, her ancestral village. Yes, it shouldn't have taken you more guesses than one to get to who we are referring to — Kamala Harris!

"I’m here today because of the women who came before me," tweeted the now 57-year-old, on January 20, 2021, just one year ago when she took the oath to the office of USA's Vice-President. From district attorney to the attorney general to one of the Democratic party's rising stars, Harris' legacy is already a solid one. Though she ran for the presidential race in 2019, she dropped out. US' current president and then president hopeful, chose her as his number two, calling her "one of the country's finest public servants". And we all know how the rest of the story goes...

Back in Thulasendrapuram on January 20, 2021, a special pooja was organised for her, there was the bursting of crackers, distribution of sweets and all-around revelry that persisted. Needless to say, villagers implored her to visit her village. Well, that would be a bigger festival, won't it?

Ask, ask
"Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”

If you are a fan of speeches, proverbs or even just trivia, you'll know these words. They were uttered by former US President John F Kennedy and are words from his inaugural speech. In some more trivia from the US, these words were to inspire Americans to do what's best for the greater good and were delivered on January 20, 1961 to quickly become the 20th century's most inspiring words.

But here, let us give you a deeper context, the words that preceded the aforementioned ones. Reading them will make the saying much more electrifying:

He said that the torch had been passed on to the next generation of Americans who were "...born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage” and pledged to “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
 
How's that for some almost end-of-the-week motivation?