Hyderabad: Donald Trump, if elected, will bring a Telugu connection to the White House thanks to his running mate. J D Vance's Indian-origin wife, Usha Chilukuri, has given Telugus around a world a reason to be thrilled, but Dr Chilukuri Santhamma, a 96-year-old physics professor from Andhra's Visakhapatnam, has an extra reason to celebrate.
“Ma Chilukuri vari ammaye Usha (Usha is our Chilukuri girl). She is the granddaughter of Rama Sastry, my husband's elder brother. I was delighted to learn that Usha has become so prominent in America. I wish her and her husband the best luck in their endeavour,” Prof Santhamma told DH.
Her only disappointment is that she has never met Usha.
“I'm happy for her. We never had the opportunity to meet, as her grandfather moved to Madras, and we relocated to Vizag many years ago. I believe that Rama Sastry's son's family left Madras and immigrated to the US. I was glad to understand that her husband was appreciative of her support for him throughout his life's journey since their marriage. The ethos of the Chilukuri family is so strong, and she has naturally inherited all that and the values,” she added.
At 96, Santhamma still teaches physics at a private university in Vizianagaram and takes three classes a week. She travels 60 kilometres one way to take classes at Centurion University in Vizianagaram.
Given the opportunity, Prof Santhamma said she would love to meet Usha, whom she now calls Chilukuri's pride. Santhamma recollects that her husband's family has roots in West Godavari.
While he migrated to Vizag, his other two brothers migrated to Chennai and Pune, respectively. While Santhamma taught physics at Andhra University in Visakhapatnam until her retirement in 1989, her husband, Subramanya Sastry, taught Telugu at the same varsity.
“Teaching is my purpose and passion. Teaching keeps me happy. Otherwise, I get bored," said Santhamma, who graduated from Andhra University with a DSc, which is equivalent to a PhD in microwave spectroscopy. She later joined the College of Science at the same university as a physics lecturer in 1956.
“I still remember that it was on August 15, 1947, Independence Day, that I joined Andhra University to study physics. Later on, I completed my BSC honours, MSC and then my DSC,” she added.
Santhamma's husband Subramanya Sastry passed away in 2009 and she has been living in Visakhapatnam with the help of a caretaker family.
Pictures of Usha and Vance's marriage in 2013 went viral on the internet after Trump picked Vance as his running mate.
Usha's parents, Chilukuri Radhakrishna and Lakshmi, moved to the US in 1980. Raised in a San Diego suburb, Usha attended Mt. Carmel High School. She is a Yale law graduate and trial lawyer.
Usha's mother is a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego, and her father is an engineer. She received an undergraduate degree at Yale University and a master of philosophy at the University of Cambridge through the Gates Cambridge scholarship.