The amazing success of Indian-origin students in the national spelling bee contest over the past several years has drawn much attention in the US with TV channels and newspapers in America giving it widespread publicity.
The champion Anurag Kashyap and the other top four in this year's contest were Indians.
NBC TV, one of many channels which interviewed Kashyap the day after the event, asked him to test some of their top anchors.
Most of them failed the test and only one spelled correctly all the words Kashyap he could think of at the unexpected challenge.
In recent years, the media noted, descendants of Indian immigrants- less than one per cent of the American population, have dominated this contest, snatching the first place in the past seven years and making up more than 30 of the 373 contestants this year.
Behind those statistics lies a beguiling story, not just of immigrant pluck but of a "craze that seems to have swept through the Indian-American community," the New York Times said.
Indians brought to spelling mastery some particular advantages, according to Madhulika S Khandelwal, an Indian immigrant who directs the Asian American Center at Queens College.
{{/usCountry}}Indians brought to spelling mastery some particular advantages, according to Madhulika S Khandelwal, an Indian immigrant who directs the Asian American Center at Queens College.
{{/usCountry}}Their parents and grandparents are usually educated, often as scientists or engineers, and they generally spoke English and appreciated the springboard powers of education.