Spelling Bee Wiz – Anamika Veeramani

Spell Well

It’s not every day that something dearly loved by Indian parents becomes a Twitter trending topic but that’s what happened with the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee championship finals! We are speaking,  of course,  of the annual spelling-fest in which Indian children do so well, and which becomes a magnificent obsession for the concerned parents.

Anamika Veeramani bagged the trophy by spelling ‘stromuhr’ – really have to credit her for spelling words which most of us don’t even know the meaning  of! Pyroligneous,  brachydactylous, and dysautonomia were some of the other tongue-twisters these kids had to deal with.  Interestingly, there was a desi word which one of the spellers stumbled over and which seems fast to be becoming a recognized word in the English language – Lassi, which Hannah Evans spelled as lasse. Just shows the importance of eating out frequently at Indian restaurants (and reading L-a-s-s-i with Lavina!)

The 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship finals took place yesterday and once again an Indian-American emerged as the winner: Speller No. 185, Anamika Veeramani. Anamika, 14, is an 8th grade student from Incarnate Word Academy in North Royalton in Ohio.

Anamika seems the embodiment of an Indian parent’s dream – she takes lessons in classical Indian dance (and golf), studies Indian classical music and has played the violin for six years. She’s also very interested in science, has participated in science fairs and created award-winning research projects.  She has a robust mix of plans for the future, merging Indian and American career paths – she wants to be a cardiovascular surgeon, an author and a screenwriter. She also personifies the importance of sheer persistence – in last year’s event she had tied for fifth place.

Indian-American kids have performed amazingly well at the spelling bees through the years.  In fact,  you can see many South Asians amongst the winners list here.
So it was inevitable that creative minds would think of a National South Asian Spelling Bee – and this has become a popular annual event for South Asian families.

If parents are having withdrawal symptoms with the end of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship, they can now gear up for yet another challenging word-fest!  The regional contests of the South Asian Spelling Bee are being held in eight centers across the US and the grand finals will be in New Jersey. So folks, bring out those fat dictionaries again and get set for another battle with words. All details for the upcoming National South Asian Spelling Bee are here.

Would love your feedback – have you ever been in a spelling bee? Would you send your children to one? And which do you think is the most difficult word in the English language?

Please c-o-m-m-e-n-t.

(All photos by Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee)