South Asian dominance continues in spelling bee; ends in a tie

Spelling bee co-champions Nihar Janga, left, and Jairam Hathwar. are friends off the stage as well.

GET READY for another slew of articles about South Asians and their prowess at spelling.

For the second year in a row,when the spelling was over, the Scripps National Spelling Bee named co-champions Thursday (May 26). And once again, the winners are Indian/American youngsters.

Co-champions Jairam Hathwar, 13 and Nihar Janga, 11, are the third consecutive set of co-champions at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held this week in National Harbor, Maryland.

Nihar spelled "gesellschaft" correctly.

Jairam spelled "Feldenkrais" correctly.After the confetti fell, the pair talked about their victory.

"I'm just very proud of myself and the hard work paid off," Nihar said. "I felt nervous all the time."

Jairam, Nihar said, is one of his best spelling friends. He said he is happy to share the championship.

Jairam's brother, 2014 co-champion Sriram Hathwar, was cheering him on from the audience.

"I wasn't expecting this," said. Jairam. "I dreamed about winning this bee and it finally came true. It's just amazing."

Though Jairam was eligible to compete for another year, he said he wanted to treat this year like it was his last because it's hard to get back to this level of competition.

"It's just amazing," he said. "I can't even believe this is real."

The spellers will take home $45,000 each in cash, a trophy and other prizes.

The bee changed the rules this year to avoid what exactly what happened — a marathon championship round. Words given to finalists didn't come from a 25-word list predetermined by spelling officials, Paige Kimble, the bee's executive director, said. Instead, organizers had the option of using an expanded list of words from anywhere in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. Kimble called it “raising the standard.” But it didn't work.

As you can see, four of the five finalists were South Asian youngsters.

Last year, when another pair of South Asians, Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam, won the bee, articles were written about why South Asians have been so successful in the spelling bee.

The dominance of South Asians in the spelling bee has given rise to speculation that bounces between the "model minority myth" and some of the racist notions that are not worth mentioning. There is no special gene giving South Asian youngsters an edge, just like there is no gene that East Asians have that make them so proficient in math and science.

It is not that south Asians are smarter than other ethnic groups. The difference, it appears, is persistence and that old axiom, "practice makes perfect." 

RELATED: Hard work and studies win the spelling bee

In the last 15 years, spelling contests have become ensconced in the South Asian/American community with regional contests to prime the kids for the bit Scripps bee. There is even a South Asian Spelling Bee with a $10,000 prize. Contests like these serve as the "minor leagues" prepare the youngsters for the pressure and intensity of the national contest.

“I think that the activity of spelling bees has grown in prestige among certain South Asian-American communities,” said Northwestern University professor Shalini Shankar, who has been studying South Asian dominance of spelling bee culture.

“I would say that it’s not a uniform phenomenon among South Asian/American communities, but among those that do value this activity, they’ve really taken to it and they compete year round in different spelling bee circuits.”

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

V-i-c-t-o-r-y: South Asian kids use hard work and studies to win spelling bee

Vanya Shivashankar,  left, and Gokul Venkatachalam

TWO YOUNG Indian Americans tied for first place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. That makes eight years in a row in which Indian American kids have captured the spelling crown. 

Eighth-graders Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam were named co-champions last week after spelling word after word correctly for 20 rounds and two hours.

The dominance displayed by south Asians in the spelling bee has given rise to a lot of speculation over the reason for this phenomenon.  It is not genetic. There is no gene for spelling inherent among south Asians just as there is no science or math gene that seems to give the edge to east Asians.

It is not that south Asians are smarter than other ethnic groups. The difference, it appears, is persistence and that old axiom, "practice makes perfect." 

Of course the explanation is more complicated than that. There is the socio-economic environment the kids have been surrounded in. Most of the south Asian contestants are second generation immigrants and their parents are generally in the professions such as doctors and engineers.  There is a high value placed on education in the south Asian American culture. Instead of driving their children to Little League or soccer practice, they are driving them to science and match competitions and spelling bees.

The Washington Post examined the phenomenon:

"First, there are the stories which seem to imply some sort of clear connection between 'Indian American' culture and spelling-bee performance. Maybe there's even a genetic propensity for the perseverance and focus required, or something that happens only in South Asian American homes. All that amounts to a line of thought that says Asian -- and in particular Indian American and Bangladeshi American -- homes and bodies are the keepers of a set of phonetic secrets, passed from generation to generation. But that is really a modern and deceptively flattering take on persistent notions about Asian secrecy, mysticism and world dominance. It's also what sociologists call a "positive stereotype" -- notions that while not inherently derogatory but prevent us from knowing or understanding others as individual human beings." ​

Colorlines has a good read examining the reaction to the success of South Asians:

"... the narrative of cultural exceptionalism is misleading and harmful. It’s safe to say that all families place an emphasis on education and want their children to succeed. However, not all families have access to resources and institutions that enable their children to do well. When we rely on culture as the reason for success, we ignore the structural realities that prevent many children of color or poor children from reaching their goals. We also end up placing the onus on families to ensure academic achievement, rather than compelling the public and private sectors to also provide valuable services and benefits that can help all children succeed."

Most of the eventual winners have been to the Scripps contest multiple times. Getting so close the first few times gave them the motivation to study more and devote more time with the dictionary.

In the last 15 years, spelling contests have become ensconced in the South Asian American community with regional contests to prime the kids for the bit Scripps bee. There is even a South Asian Spelling Bee with a $10,000 prize. Contests like these serve as the "minor leagues" prepare the youngsters for the pressure and intensity of the national contest.

“I think that the activity of spelling bees has grown in prestige among certain South Asian-American communities,” said Northwestern University professor Shalini Shankar, who has been studying South Asian dominance of spelling bee culture.

“I would say that it’s not a uniform phenomenon among South Asian-American communities, but among those that do value this activity, they’ve really taken to it and they compete year round in different spelling bee circuits.”

It's no wonder that the best spellers come out of this incubator system. 

Vanya's and Gokul's win has also given rise to the usual rants from the racist element in America who can't get a handle on America's changing demographics and the idea that our country is a nation of immigrants. I won't even bother to repeat their criticism. No doubt, you can conjecture what they are.

"I look forward to the day, as do I think many of our South Asian participants, when they are called what they want to be called -- Americans," bee director Paige Kimble, the 1981 champion, said after the winners were declared.

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