DOGE head Vivek Ramaswamy’s ancestral village proud of his ascent

PALGHAT, KERALA: There is a reason for the villagers of Vadakkanchery in Kerala’s Palakkad district to feel proud—Indian-American entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy, whose family hails from this village, has been appointed to head the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with tech billionaire Elon Musk, making him one of the top government officials in the United States.
It was evident that everyone in the quiet hamlet of Vadakkanchery knew exactly where Dr Meenakshi Sundaram’s house was located. When we asked around for direction, every villager mentioned a landmark—a naga (cobra) sculpture situated near her house.
Dr Sundaram’s house, Balavihar, is the ancestral home of the second and third generations of the Ramaswamy family. Dr Sundaram is the maternal aunt of Vivek Ramaswamy.
The news of Vivek’s nomination by President-elect Donald Trump spread like wildfire in Vadakkanchery. Almost everyone in the village heard about the 38-year-old’s rise to prominence in the US, where he has become politically significant and is seen as someone close to the POTUS.
Former president of the Vadakkanchery Village Brahmin Society, V.S. Venkataraman shared his pride, by saying. “I have known the Ramaswamy family for over 19 years, since my tenure as an office bearer of the society. We beam with pride thinking of Vivek Ramaswamy. The entire village feels honoured that he has reached such a pinnacle. Our village deity, Mookambika Devi, will bless both him and his family,” he said.
Within this joint family, known locally as the “doctors’ family,” nearly half a dozen members are doctors. Vivek’s father, Ganapathy Ramaswamy, an engineer who graduated from Calicut University, was an exception, but the family has always been highly regarded in the village.
This newspaper traced Vivek’s roots and met one of his aunts, Chandra, who resides in Kalpathy, Palakkad. Unlike her siblings who migrated to the United States, Chandra remained in Kerala. Recalling Vivek as a little boy visiting their ancestral house in Balavihar, Chandra shared, “Vivek used to tell my husband, Dr Subramaniam, a paediatrician, that he was going to become the President of the United States one day. He would say this repeatedly.”
We also met Vivek’s paternal uncle, Dr Ramanathan, a cardiologist in Ohio, who had flown to India with his wife, Susheela, for the Kalpathy temple carnival and festivities. Dr Ramanathan fondly remembered Vivek as “a confident young man who is a go-getter, guided closely by his parents. He is a hard worker and achieves whatever he sets his mind to. At home, however, he was different—down to earth and childlike when with family.”
Susheela, Vivek’s aunt, recalled his athletic side, noting, “He was a good tennis player. Our entire family, though spread across countries, remained closely knit. We often gathered at our ancestral house, Balavihar, to spend time together.”
The last time Vivek Ramaswamy visited Kerala with his wife, Apoorva Tiwari, was in 2018. Accompanied by their two sons, he visited the Guruvayur Temple and reconnected with family members in Vadakkanchery.
Dr Ramanathan shared that he last met Vivek two weeks ago when he visited Ohio. Since being elevated to head the DOGE, Vivek has been travelling frequently to Washington, D.C., and other states.