Nikki Haley, a 'proud daughter of Indian immigrants' makes history. Again.

Manjari Bose was channel surfing at her home in South Barrington, Illinois, last week when she came across a biography of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and learned she was of Indian descent.

Her immediate reaction?

To call her two children − an investment banker and a software engineer, both in their 20s − to tell them to up their game.

More: Nikki Haley's supporters brace for nail-biter against Donald Trump after Ron DeSantis drops out

"Nikki Haley is just like you," Bose, who moved to the US from the Indian state of West Bengal in 1995, told her kids. "She was raised by immigrant parents and look at all that she's achieved."

"All the immigrants' kids in this country have such opportunity, the sky is the limit, but somehow these kids don't strive or don't work hard or take things for granted," she says. "I am so impressed by her work ethic and the way she worked at her family business at a young age."

Going farther than Kamala Harris and Vivek Ramaswamy

Bose might be a "Bengal Tiger Mom" but the inspiration many Indian Americans draw from seeing one their own vying for the highest office in the country echoes throughout the community.

When Nikki Haley’s family moved to Bamberg, South Carolina, in 1969, they were the only Indian family in the town of about 2,500 residents.

She would go on to make history as the first female governor of South Carolina and the first Indian American to be appointed to a cabinet-level position as Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations in 2016.

“I am the proud daughter of Indian immigrants who reminded my brothers, my sister and me every single day how blessed we were to live in this country,” said Haley, as she announced her presidential campaign last February.

More: Nikki Haley says America was never racist. Her memoir tells a trickier story

Now she’s making history again, this time by going further in the primary race than any Indian American presidential candidate.

Although Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, made history as the first Indian American vice president, her 2020 presidential run ended before the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, the other Indian American 2024 candidate − and a dogged opponent of Haley's − dropped out after Iowa.

Head-to-head with Donald Trump

Now that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended his hard-luck campaign just before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Haley will be going head-to-head with her former boss on Tuesday in the Granite State.

"Can you hear that sound?" Haley told supporters Monday. "That’s the sound of a two-person race."

As his former ambassador has risen in the polls, Trump has turned his venom on Haley. "Nimbra.... doesn't have what it takes," Trump wrote on his social media platform earlier this week, mangling her first name. He also reposted a false claim that Haley is ineligible to run for president.

More: Nikki Haley gets boost from Judge Judy at New Hampshire rally: 'Sound of a two-person race'

A rough road for Sikh Americans

For a population that is less than 2% of the U.S. population, and whose numbers only began to swell in the early 2000s, it's remarkable how quickly Indian Americans have risen in politics, said Karthick Ramakrishnan, professor of public policy and political science at the University of California, Riverside.

The former governor's rise as a Republican candidate is also noteworthy because "Indian Americans, for the most part, identify with the Democratic Party over the Republican Party," Ramakrishnan said.

Haley's candidacy is historic not only because of her country of descent but also for her Sikh upbringing. Her father, who wears a turban, was the president of a local Sikh temple in South Carolina. Born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, Haley was raised in the Sikh faith. She later converted to Christianity before her wedding to Michael Haley at age 26.

While Haley is widely celebrated for having made history as an Indian American, some in the Sikh community, which has borne the heavy burden of bigotry in the post 9/11 US, feel ambivalent about what her success means to the community: The first person to be killed in a hate crime four days after 9/11 was a turbaned Sikh who was mistaken for a Muslim man. In 2012, the Wisconsin Sikh temple mass shooting claimed seven lives.

Assimilation vs belonging

Vishavjit Singh, a political cartoonist, activist and co-director of the short film American Sikh, says while he believes Haley's success highlights the fact that more and more South Asians can aspire to be in positions of political power, he wonders if things would have been different if she'd held on to her original faith.

"Would she have the same success as an outwardly practicing Sikh woman? Would she be where she's today?" he asked. "Personally, it is not about assimilation. It is about being included and belonging into the American fabric without having to give up something of your heritage to be seen or accepted as American."

Still, he's hopeful.

"We are bound to see turbaned Sikh Americans in Congress and high political offices in the near future," he says.

Indian values, American values

Dinesh Lokhande, 60, of Westford, Massachusetts, said he believes Haley represents Indian values.

“I feel proud that she has come to this level. Most Indians are very pragmatic, centrist, well informed and take rational decisions," he said.

Waiting in line to meet Haley after a rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, Aswin Guntupalli, 38, brought his 11-year-old daughter to the event to show her “what is possible.”

Haley “is fighting to be president of the United States,” said Guntupalli, who is based in Massachusetts. “That is possible here. I hope she gets inspired by this."

Sudiksha Kochi is a Congress, Campaigns and Democracy reporter at USA TODAY.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY.  You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indian Americans hail Nikki Haley's political ascent and 'work ethic'