Kamala (कमला) is the Sanskrit word for "lotus" — an epithet of Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune. **Kamala Harris (born 1964)** — the **first female, first Black, and first South Asian Vice President of the United States** (2021-2025) — was named by her Indian mother for the goddess. **Kamala Das (1934-2009)** was the Indian poet of *My Story*. **Kamala Surayya** wrote in both English and Malayalam — among India's most influential modern feminist writers.
Subject of Dan Morain's *Kamala's Way* (2021).
Kamala reduces to nine — the number of lotus-Lakshmi.