Mayor Mamdani Brings South Asian Touches To His Inauguration

NEW YORK, NY -Zohran Mamdani brought touches of his South Asian heritage to his formal inauguration as this multicultural city’s Mayor on New Year’s Day.

While acknowledging his parents during his speech, Mamdani also gave a shout-out to relatives in Delhi.

He is the son of Mira Nair, the famed movie director, and Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor from Uganda with Indian ancestry.

“Thank you to my parents, Mama and Baba, for raising me, for teaching me how to be in this world, and for having brought me to this city,” he said in his inaugural address on the steps of City Hall after being sworn in.

“Thank you to my family — from Kampala to Delhi,” he added.

Two of the three Korans used by Mamdani to take the oath of office belonged to his grandfather and grandmother.

Before his swearing-in, a Hindu, Arun Khosai, and a Sikh, Sandeep Kaur, stood alongside Christian and Jewish religious leaders as an imam from New York invoked Allah in a prayer.

Mamdani made a culinary reference to his heritage while speaking about making the city work for workers like “those who feed us biryani.”

Another nod to his heritage came from singer Babbulicious, who performed ‘Gaddi Red Challenger’ in a mix of Punjabi and English during the inauguration ceremony.

Mamdani clapped in rhythm as Babbulicious, wearing a pink turban, jumped around the stage during the performance.

Mamdani also included a line in his speech — ‘Logon ke dil badal gaye hein’ — which he translated as “softness in people’s hearts”.

He said a Pakistani auntie named Samina told him that was how she perceived the effect of his movement on the city.

Mamdani marked a trifecta of firsts, becoming the 111th or 112th Mayor — a discrepancy he acknowledged, noting that the city is unable to definitively count the number of mayors before him.

He is the first Muslim, the first South Asian, as he is generally described, and the first mayor born in Africa.

He was given the middle name Kwame, after late Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah, reflecting his connection to Africa. (IANS