Frontlist | HarperCollins India announces Kamala Harris' biography

on Jan 22, 2021

HarperCollins Publishers India is thrilled to announce a new and definitive biography of Kamala Harris - who sworn as the Vice President of the United States of America - by renowned journalist and writer Chidanand Rajghatta.

HarperCollins Publishers India is thrilled to announce a new and definitive biography of Kamala Harris - who sworn in today as the Vice President of the United States of America - by renowned journalist and writer Chidanand Rajghatta.

A story of love and resilience within a narrative that has increasingly become one of division and hate. This is a story of immigration and immigrants and the Indian diaspora's growing clout in the USA. This is the story of a woman of mixed race, who still rises. This is the story of Kamala. ABOUT THE BOOK Today, Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the Vice President of the United States of America, making her the first person of Indian descent, and the first woman to rise to such a position. Are we surprised? Not really, for Kamala - the daughter of a breast-cancer scientist Indian mother and a Stanford University emeritus professor of economics Jamaican father - has been known to blaze a trail for herself in her chosen fields.

Kamala Harris: Phenomenal Woman will focus on the life and times of Kamala Harris and celebrate her Asian and Jamaican heritage - with special focus on her India connect, and her journey as a woman of colour coming to occupy one of the highest offices in the USA. With America on the boil during the months preceding her election, the country still in the grip of fake news, and the end of the term of the outgoing president witnessing mobs going on a rampage on Capitol Hill, this was an extremely messy, hard-won election, and Kamala's story of rise to candidature, struggle and survival amidst all of this makes for fascinating reading. So does Chidanand's chronicling of the nail-biting election and the swearing-in.

This inspiring biography is for every person who has been told that their race and caste and creed and immigration status is likely to come in the way of their success. Chidanand Rajghatta says: 'Kamala Harris is the first woman of Jamaican and Indian descent to be elected to the high offices in the USA in this extraordinary time in US and world history. Hers is an incredible story: the story of the rise of women in politics against all odds. One gets the feeling Kamala might yet climb the glass cliff and break the ultimate glass ceiling, but that's a story only time can unfurl. With Kamala Harris: Phenomenal Woman, we celebrate the life and career of America's first female vice president, and I'm pleased to be collaborating with the wonderful people at HarperCollins India on the project.' Udayan Mitra, Publisher - Literary Division, HarperCollins India, says: 'In the very trying times that the world has had to face up to over the past year and more, Kamala Harris stands for new hope, for regeneration, for the promise of better things to come. The first woman and the first person of colour to be sworn into the office of Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris is an inspirational figure, an icon of empowerment, of achievement, of ambition. A global leader for today's times and for the future, Kamala Harris evokes particular interest in India because of her part-Indian roots, of which she is very proud and to which she makes frequent references. We at HarperCollins India are immensely proud to announce a definitive biography of Kamala Harris by the renowned journalist and writer Chidanand Rajghatta, which we will be publishing later this year.'

Prema Govindan, Commissioning Editor, HarperCollins India, says: 'It's a matter of great pride that a woman of Indian descent has been chosen for a position that's considered the second most powerful in the world. Kamala Harris's is a fascinating story of true grit, and we have seen her tenacity being tested in extraordinary ways even before she was sworn in as the vice president of the United States of America. Chidanand Rajghatta is the perfect teller of this tale of dramatic ups and downs, and it's a privilege to publish the life story of this woman who has a long list of achievements that inspire me as an Indian and as a woman.' Chidanand ('Chidu') Rajghatta is currently the foreign editor and U.S bureau chief of the Times of India. In an expansive career, Chidanand has often written the first draft of history from the geo-political frontiers of India, the United States, and their engagement with the world. Chidanand was born and studied in Bangalore, India, and began his journalistic career with the Indian Express in 1981. After stints with Sunday magazine and the Telegraph of Kolkata, he worked at India Today before he became editor of The Sunday Times of India in Delhi. He was the resident editor of the Indian Express in Mumbai when he was sent to Washington, D.C., in 1994 - a posting that has made him one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in the city. Rajghatta has written two books, including The Horse That Flew: How India's Silicon Gurus Spread their Wings.

Source: Hindustan Times