Shantanu Srivatsa and Anamika Veeramani sat nervously, side by side on stage. Once again, an Indian-American was going to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. It was just a matter of what word and what time on Friday.
Shantanu, 13, an eighthgrader from West Fargo, North Dakota, stepped to the microphone first and couldn’t spell “ochidore”.
Anamika—showing the cool demeanour she kept throughout—kept her hands behind her back and rattled off the correct letters for the medical term “stromuhr”. She didn’t crack a smile until the trophy was presented. “It was too surreal,” she said. “I usually have a poker face, so that’s what that was.”
The 14-year-old girl from North Royalton, Ohio, won the 83rd bee, claiming the trophy and more than $40,000 in cash and prizes—some of which she says she intends to spend. She also became the third consecutive Indian-American bee champion.
Indian-Americans comprise less than 1% of the US population according to 2000 census data, but they have an impressive bee winning streak—taking the trophy in eight of the past 12 years.
“All the past champions inspire me, they all have something different and they’re all amazing,” said Anamika.
She survived the round by spelling “juvia”—a Brazil nut—and then had to sit through a tense 3-minute commercial before spelling the championship word.
The Indian-American winning streak began with Nupur Lala, who became famous for her 1999 win after the 2002 release of the Academy Awardnominated documentary Spellbound. By then, George Abraham Thampy had won in 2000. Pratyush Buddiga took the title two years later. And the streak continued through the decade.
Anamika’s father, Alagaiya Veeramani, a civil engineer, said he had no clue why Indian-Americans seem to do so well at the competition. He guessed it has something to do with a hard-work ethic. “This has been her dream for a very, very long time,” said Veeramani, explaining that his daughter studied as many as 16 hours on some days.
Anamika already envisions attending Harvard University and becoming a cardiovascular surgeon.
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