Indian kids in US in race to spell success
Having made a habit of spelling success year after year, Indian-American children are raring to go again. A host of them have qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, arguably the US?s most popular quiz show for schoolchildren up to the age of 15.
Having made a habit of spelling success year after year, Indian-American children are raring to go again. A host of them have qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, arguably the US’s most popular quiz show for schoolchildren up to the age of 15.
For the first time, the Spelling Bee is going prime time this year on the ABC network as the two-day show gets under way here on Wednesday. Indian-American children have won the word crunching title five times in the last seven years.
It was a particularly spellbinding success last year, when the Indian kids walked away with the top three prizes. Two of the runners-up from last year — Samir Sudhir Patel and Rajiv Tarigopula — and 11 other Indian children who advanced to different levels in previous competitions will be among the 275 children vying for the title this year.
Other Indian children looking to spring a surprise include Nidharshan Subra Anandasivam, Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan, Bonny Jain, Nilesh K Raval, Anjay V Ajodha, Maheen Rana, Sameer Mishra, Eesha Purohit, Akshat Shekhar and Midhat Patel. To qualify for the contest, students have to first win their school/county bees.
