New York, June 1
For the 11th consecutive year, Indian-origin children have monopolised the National Spelling Bee crown with Karthik Nemmani winning the 2018 championship, beating out five others in the last rounds.
Nemmani, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Texas, spelt "koinonia" correctly for his victory on Thursday night after second place winner, 12-year-old Naysa Modi, got "bewusstseinslage" wrong.
"It's what I've been dreaming of for years now," Nemmani said.
He takes home $40,000 and a trophy from Scripps Bee, which is sponsored by the EW Scripps media group, in addition to a $2,500 cash prize from Merriam-Webster, the dictionary publisher,
Last week Indian-origin Venkat Ranjan, won the National Geographic Bee, which carries a $50,000 scholarship, beating out two others.
The second and third places in the contest, which tests knowledge of geography, were won by Anoushka Buddhikot and Vishal Sareddy.
This year 515 contestants participated in the National Spelling Bee championship, the biggest number so far because of rule changes that widened the pool beyond the local champions and also included those without sponsors, who are usually newspapers.
The contest held in Oxon Hill near Washington was televised nationally on the sports channel ESPN.
Indian-origin children have won the Spelling Bee championship for 11 continuous years since Sameer Mishra won in 2008.
In 1985, Balu Natarajan became the first Indian-origin child to win the Spelling Bee and 17 others have followed him.
The Spelling Bee is not merely a memory test of exotic words as it also requires learning about the origins of words and the languages they are derived from.
Almost a cult among Indian-Americans, Spelling Bees are organised by community organisations and by businesses wanting to reach them.
Nemmani's cousin, Srivatsav who was a contestant, but didn't get to the finals, said: "I knew he was going to win. He studied for hours and hours and hours, countless hours."
"Koinonia" is "an intimate spiritual communion and participative sharing in a common religious commitment and spiritual community", according to National Spelling Bee website.
The site defined "bewusstseinslage" as "a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components".
Given the difficulty of the word that tripped Modi, Nemmani said modestly: "She deserves the trophy just as much if not more than I did."
The third through sixth places went to Abhijay Kodali, Jashun Paluru, Navneeth Murali and Sravanth Malla.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
WE HAVE A WINNER
Karthik Nemmani, Speller 471, a Texas eighth grader, is the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee!
He spelled "koinonia" correctly, an intimate spiritual communion and participative sharing in a common religious commitment and spiritual community.
Karthik said he went 20 rounds toe-to-toe with Naysa Modi in their local Bee, only to be invited to the National Spelling Bee through the RSVBee program – where they would again square off on stage.
“It's pretty cool to be on stage,†he said. “It's what I've been dreaming of for years now.â€
It's a lot of work, Karthik said, but worthwhile.
“I had confidence,†he said. “I wouldn't say I expected it.â€
When not spelling, Karthik likes to play tennis and watch the Chicago Bulls and the Denver Broncos. He also likes robotics and is looking forward to getting some rest.
Karthik's cousin, Srivatsav Nemmani , Speller 375 also competed. Karthik said it was nice to share the experience with him.
After the trophy was presented, Karthik said he hoped to get this far.
"I had confidence, but I didn't really think it could happen," he said. "It was a dream come true.
Naysa misspells
Naysa Modi, Speller 447 and a Texas seventh grader, misspelled "Bewusstseinslage," a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components.
It's Naysa's fourth time at the Bee, and she knows want to expect.
“I'm not overwhelmed,†she said. “I can't help but be happy.â€
Naysa said she prepared more this year. Now, she qualified in Texas. Last year, she was here from Louisiana.
Qualifying this year was harder, she said.
Naysa also plays soccer and is learning tae kwon do. She looks up to Simone Biles, Oprah and Ellen.
About the Bee?
“It's such an exhilarating experience,†she said. “I wouldn't trade it for the world.â€
(text, photos from spellingbee.com)
