Joe’s elusive quest for ‘Biden from Mumbai’ continues

MEGHAN MARKLE, the wife of Prince Harry, on Thursday broke from protocol normally followed by British royals in calling for a “change” in the upcoming US presidential election. HER COMMENTS came during a virtual “voter registration couch party” organised by When We All Vote, an outreach group co-chaired by former first lady Michelle Obama, actor Tom Hanks and others to increase participation at the polls

Washington, Aug. 21: When Joe Biden was elected as one of the youngest US senators in 1972, one of the first letters that he received was from Mumbai, with the sender having the same last name as his.

About five years ago, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee learned that there are five Bidens living in Mumbai, but is probably yet to make a connection with them.

The “Biden from Mumbai”, then known as Bombay, had congratulated Biden on his election as the senator from Delaware and told him that they were related to each other.

Biden, then 29, wanted to follow up on the letter and get in touch with the “Biden from Mumbai”. However, his family and active life in politics meant that this wish remained a wish, something he still wants to fulfil nearly five decades later.

The wish may have remained unfulfilled, but the 77-year-old Biden never misses a chance to narrate the “Biden from Mumbai” story when he meets Indian-Americans and the Indian leaders. The former vice president assures them that he too has an India connection, however, distant it might be.

In his address to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mumbai, on July 24, 2013, during his maiden visit to India as the Vice President of the US, he went offscript to narrate his story of the “Biden from Mumbai.”