Jan. 13: A 47-year-old Indian American with roots in the city has become a member of the North Carolina state senate.

Democrat candidate Jay Chaudhuri's last November victory reminded his maternal uncle Priyabrata Kar, 77, of the seven-year-old's speech if he were to become the US President.

"He would say what he would do if he became the President... I have it recorded in a cassette... the confidence with which he spoke had left us amazed," Kar said, speaking to Metro in his home in Entally.

Chaudhuri was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but his parents ensured he visited Calcutta to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins. "My wife Sejal and I try to do the same thing with our two children... we just visited Calcutta in January 2015," he told Metro in a mail from the US.

And his favourite haunt is the Chowringhee and Park Street areas. "We always visit Flurys and try to dine at Bar-B-Q.... We take the children to Nehru Children's Museum, a place I visited often as a child." During their last tour, the Chaudhuris did a Calcutta walk tour that gave "great insight into the city's multicultural past". The tour ended with biryani at Nizam's.

Chaudhuri has dedicated his "entire career to public service that now almost totals two decades" because he feels public service is a way to give back. "I got my first real start in public service serving as legislative counsel to then state senate majority leader Roy Cooper."

He left his position as the general counsel and senior policy adviser to state treasurer Janet Cowell to run for the state senate full time in June 2015 and what followed was "a lot of hard work and discipline".

In North Carolina, there are two chambers - an upper house (state senate) and a lower house (house of representatives). "There are 50 state senators and 120 members in the house of representatives. I am one of the 50 senators and each senator represents approximately 190,000 people. Specifically, my state senate district represents the state capital of Raleigh, and the towns of Cary and Morrisville," Chaudhuri said.

His objective now is to "raise teacher pay above the national average and build an economy that works for all North Carolinians". "I love the fact that everyone in Calcutta has an opinion about politics whether its Bengal politics or national politics. Those discussions and debates, sometimes they get emotional, are a reflection of India's great democratic tradition."