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Indian American wins spelling bee again

Nitish S Rele

For the second year in a row, an Indian American has picked the national spelling bee title.

George Abraham Thampy of St Louis, Missouri, won the 73rd annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee held in Washington, DC, this week.

The 12-year-old spelt words such as ersatz, psilosis, endaemonic, ditokous and propaedeutic correctly in earlier rounds before snatching the title with demarche, which means diplomatic manoeuvre.

He won the $10,000 cash prize and a set of encyclopaedias on June 1 as parents K George Thampy and Bina watched with pride.

"My main goal wasn't the cash prizes or trophies," said the youngster. "It was the words. If I'd gone out in the first round or the fourth round, I'd still be happy as long as I learned just one new word."

The spelling bee cap is not the only one in the youngster's bag. Just last week, George placed second in the National Geography Bee, winning a $15,000 college scholarship.

George's parents are immigrants from South India. His father is a biochemist and physician, while his mother has schooled all her four sons and three daughters at home.

The contest attracted 248 youths aged 12-14 from all over the United States.

Indian Americans have excelled in several professions in the country. Last year, Nupur Lala, then of Tampa, Florida, was the spelling bee winner after she spelt logorrhea correctly in the final round.

The contestants for the spelling bee are sponsored by their local newspapers. George was sponsored by the enormously popular and prestigious daily, St Louis Post-Dispatch. The contest is sponsored by Scripps Howard, the newspaper chain.

The headquarters of Scripps Howard in Cincinnati coordinates the national finals, enrols sponsors and produces word lists and study material for the spelling bee. The Louisville Courier-Journal began the spelling bee with nine contestants in 1925. In 1941, Scripps Howard acquired the rights to the programme.

There were no Scripps Howard National Spelling Bees during the World War II years of 1943, 1944 and 1945. Co-champions were declared in 1950, 1957 and 1962. Of the 74 national champions so far, 41 were girls and 33 were boys.

The organisation is considered the nation's largest and longest-running educational promotion, administered on a non-profit basis by The E W Scripps Company and 239 sponsors in the United States, Europe, Guam, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and American Samoa.

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