NEW DELHI (AP) - A small town halfway across the world exploded in celebration when Nikki Haley was elected governor of South Carolina.
The Randhawa family in the town of Verka distributed sweets to neighbors, set off fire crackers and broke out into traditional Punjabi folk dances to celebrate one of their relatives getting elected.
Haley's cousin, Kanwaljit Singh Randhawa, says he saw the breaking news headline on TV and abandoned lunch to tell other family and neighbors about the news.
Haley was born Nimrata Randhawa to Sikh parents who had immigrated to the United States from India in the early 1960s. The 38-year-old mother of two is the first Indian-American woman governor elected in the U.S.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)