Relatives overjoyed

NEW DELHI: A daylong celebration was held on Sunday for the relatives of Bobby Jindal. “All the relatives are gathering at our ancestral home, and it’ll be a big party for all our friends and family,” the US politician’s cousin, Subhash Jindal, said over the phone from the family’s hometown in Maler Kotla, a town in Punjab.

Bobby Jindal, 36, has not visited his ancestral home for more than three decades — but that has not hampered the joy in Maler Kotla. The family planned to celebrate with a traditional Punjabi bhangra folk dance to the beat of dhols, setting off firecrackers and enjoying sweets, said another cousin, Harinder Jindal. “We’re so proud of our child,” said his aunt, Vijaylakshmi Jindal. “He’s achieved so much at such a young age.”