India, June 26 -- The unexpected arrival of Zohran Mamdani to the centrestage of American politics is remarkable. Born to parents of Indian origin - academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair - the 33-year-old self-declared democratic socialist is the antithesis of all that Donald Trump's America represents. President Trump's response on social media to Mamdani clinching the Democratic party's nomination for the New York mayoral poll, scheduled for later this year, was: "A 100% communist lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming mayor."

New York is not America, surely. However, Mamdani's rise in the Democratic ranks may not be merely a reflection of the Big Apple's melting pot society, but also a pushback...