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Touches of his South Asian heritage spark at Mamdani’s inauguration as New York mayor
Mamdani clapped in rhythm to the performance as the Sikh singer, wearing a pink turban, jumped around the stage.
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IANS - Fri, 02, Jan 2026
- 01:49 EST
- 19
Singer Babbulicious performs at the inauguration of Zohran Mamdani as New York's mayor / Babbulicious/Instagram
Zohran Mamdani brought touches of his South Asian heritage to his formal inauguration as mayor of the multicultural city on New Year’s Day.
While acknowledging his parents during his speech, he also gave a shout-out to relatives in Delhi.
He is the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani, a Columbia University professor from Uganda who claims Indian ancestry.
“Thank you to my parents, Mama and Baba, for raising me, for teaching me how to be in this world, and for having brought me to this city,” he said in his inaugural address on the steps of City Hall after being sworn in.
“Thank you to my family — from Kampala to Delhi,” he added.
Two of the three Qurans he used to take the oath of office belonged to his grandfather and grandmother.
Before his swearing-in, a Hindu, Arun Khosai, and a Sikh, Sandeep Kaur, stood alongside Christian and Jewish religious leaders as an imam from New York invoked Allah in prayer.
Mamdani made a culinary reference to his heritage in his speech while talking about making the city work for laborers like “those who feed us biryani.”
Another nod to his heritage came from singer Babbulicious, who performed “Gaddi Red Challenger” in a mix of Punjabi and English during the inauguration ceremony.
Babbu Singh, whose stage name is Babbulicious, is also a social media influencer, comedian, artist and children’s book author.
Mamdani clapped in rhythm to the performance as the singer, wearing a pink turban, jumped around the stage.
“NEW YORK VICH MUNDA RENDAAAAA,” Babbulicious posted on Instagram.
Mamdani included a line in his speech, “Logon ke dil badal gaye hain,” which he translated as “softness in people’s hearts.”
He said a Pakistani auntie named Samina told him that was how she perceived the impact of his movement on the city.
While Mamdani has mentioned his father’s religion, which he has embraced as his own, he has remained silent on the religion his mother was born into, Hinduism.
Mamdani marked a trifecta of firsts, becoming either the city’s 111th or 112th mayor — a discrepancy he acknowledged in his speech, noting uncertainty in historical records.
He is the first Muslim, the first South Asian, and the first mayor born in Africa.
He spent his first five years in Uganda, where he was born, and the next two in South Africa, where his father taught, before moving to New York at age 7, when the professor joined Columbia University.
He was given the middle name Kwame, after late Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, reflecting his link to Africa.
Mamdani is married to Rama Sawaf Duwaji, an artist and illustrator of Syrian origin. She was born in the U.S. but spent her childhood in Persian Gulf countries.
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