My grandfather was one of the original Independence fighters in

Hear the tender and noble words of Kamala Harris, who spoke not merely of memory, but of legacy: “My grandfather was one of the original Independence fighters in India, and some of my fondest memories from childhood were walking along the beach with him after he retired and lived in Besant Nagar, in what was then called Madras.” In these words lies a river of inheritance — a confluence of love, courage, and remembrance. They are the words of a granddaughter gazing upon her roots, tracing her spirit back to one who had once fought for the liberation of a nation. In her memory, the waves of Besant Nagar still whisper the song of freedom, and the sands she walked upon hold the footsteps of a man who once carried the weight of his people’s hope.

The origin of this reflection lies in Harris’s remembrance of her maternal grandfather, P. V. Gopalan, an Indian civil servant and a man of profound integrity and principle. Though his role was not that of a warrior in arms, he was a fighter for independence, a servant of the new India born from the ashes of colonial rule. To his granddaughter, he was both a symbol of India’s struggle for self-determination and a personal guide — a living embodiment of the virtues that shape nations and families alike: courage, sacrifice, and vision. It was upon those shores of Madras, now Chennai, that Harris first began to sense the weight of history — not as a distant tale, but as a living flame passed from generation to generation.

In her recollection, the beach walks become sacred pilgrimages — moments when the wisdom of the old met the wonder of the young. Her grandfather, once part of a people’s uprising against empire, had seen the tides of history change with his own eyes. The waves that rolled beside them were the same that had watched over the ships of colonizers and freedom fighters alike. As they walked, the ocean’s rhythm carried the echo of India’s Independence, a reminder that freedom, once won, must always be remembered — and that the spirit of struggle lives not only in battles and speeches, but in the quiet shaping of young minds.

Her words also remind us that independence is not merely a political condition, but a spiritual inheritance. Nations may cast off their chains, but the work of liberty continues in every generation that follows. Harris, whose life would carry her across oceans to America, bore within her the dual heritage of freedom and responsibility — one born in India’s fight for sovereignty, the other in America’s pursuit of justice and equality. In this way, her grandfather’s example did not end with the independence of his homeland; it became the foundation upon which she would build her own sense of duty — to fight, as he did, for the dignity of all.

Consider, then, the story of India’s long struggle for independence — a saga of courage and endurance. Men and women of every faith and region stood against the might of an empire. Some wielded law, others words, others the quiet force of conscience. When Mahatma Gandhi walked to the sea at Dandi, scooping a handful of salt to defy unjust laws, he too walked as Harris’s grandfather must have — steady, resolute, and humble before the greatness of the cause. Those who fought for freedom did not all bear swords or banners; some, like Gopalan, built nations through service and integrity. Theirs was the revolution of the spirit — the belief that self-governance begins with self-mastery, and that independence, to endure, must be guided by virtue.

In this, Harris’s reflection becomes not only familial, but universal. It speaks to the eternal bond between memory and destiny, between the ancestors who fought for freedom and the descendants who must carry it forward. Her walk with her grandfather mirrors the walk of every generation beside the one that came before — the passing of wisdom through stories, gestures, and shared silences. On those beaches, she did not merely learn of India; she learned of humanity’s constant struggle to be free, and of the sacred duty each person has to preserve that freedom for others.

So let this be the lesson: never forget the roots of your freedom. Whether your ancestors fought on battlefields, in courts, or within their own hearts, their struggle breathes within you. Honor it, as Kamala Harris did, by walking with their spirit — by letting their courage shape your own calling. For the tides of history are never still, and the fight for independence, in every form, continues. Carry the flame forward — in your work, in your words, and in your compassion. For as long as one heart remembers the cost of freedom, and one voice speaks for justice, the legacy of the independence fighters — in India, and in all lands — will never fade.