Chennai:
A family in Batlagundu, at the foothills of the Kodaikanal hills in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul district, is celebrating a remarkable discovery - Nobel Peace Prize winner Navaneetham "Navi" Pillay is their relative.
The large family have come together, from its youngest child to its oldest member, to celebrate their newfound connection with the internationally renowned jurist. They cut a cake, distributed pieces among themselves and put up posters greeting Pillay across the town.
As the family's oldest woman cut the cake, others cheered, "We greet Ms Pillay, we are happy!" One poster, featuring Pillay's pictures, carried an emotional message: "We are too young to greet her and we worship her."
Rajkumar, a member of the family, says their forefathers had spoken about the connection for generations, but nobody had taken it seriously.
"We have been here for 13 generations, and Ms Pillay's family is believed to have left around the seventh generation. Our forefathers had told us about this, but we never took it seriously. Only now, hearing that she has her roots in Batlagundu, have we realised she is our relative," he says.
The family believes Pillay's grandparents, Narayansamy Naidoo and his wife, Sakunthala, left for South Africa in the 1890s.
For Divya, a young member of the family, the discovery has brought immense pride.
"Our grandparents had told us about Ms Navi. We didn't pay much attention to it. Now it has come true. We are so proud. Someone from this soil and heritage winning the Nobel Peace Prize makes us so proud and happy," she says.
Pillay's contribution, however, extends far beyond her family roots. Born in Durban to a family of Indian-Tamil origin, the daughter of a driver, she went on to become a judge of South Africa's High Court and later the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised her efforts to promote peace and international law. Until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She has also pressed for an international investigation into the massacre of Tamil civilians at Mullivaikkal in Sri Lanka.
For her relatives in Batlagundu, the discovery is a moment of immense pride - a connection to a woman whose work on the global stage has made her heritage a source of celebration at home.
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