Opportunity

is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. Thomas Edison

Vol. III, No. 24, 19 June 2015

S-c-h-e-r-e-n-s-c-h-n-i-t-t-e

I had to google the meaning of S-c-h-e-r-e-n-s-c-h-n-i-t-t-e. The winners of this years spelling bee contest correctly spelled this
word, alongside n-u-n-a-t-a-k! Incidentally, and unsurprisingly, the trophy was jointly held by two Indian American kids, Gokul
Venkatachalam (14) and Vanya Shivashankar (13) who were declared co-winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, making this
the eighth bee in a row to name an Indian-American victor. In this year's final, six of the remaining seven spellers were of Indian
heritage. Last years edition was jointly won by Ansun Sujoe and Sriram Hathwar, two Indian-American kids who got s-t-i-c-h-o-my-t-h-i-a and f-e-u-i-l-l-e-t-o-n correct! The last eight national champions and fourteen of the last eighteen have been of Indian
descent, a string of victories that began in 1999 with Nupur Lalas win. To put things into perspective, Indian-Americans are just one
per cent of Americas population, but over ten per cent compete in the spelling bee nationals.
This statistical misrepresentation is characteristic of Indian-Americans, who produce more doctors, engineers, scientists, professors
and executives than their statistical share. This sweeping dominance of Indian- Americans in spelling bees has led to much debate
within the American society. Given that spelling bees are extremely difficult and competitive in nature, it is impossible that the
continuing domination of the spelling bees by Indian students over such an extended period is a fluke or a coincidence. There must
be some rational explanation for their success, some secret recipe. Is it a socio-economic factor rather than a gene? Is it an
organized structure of competition within the community? Is it that Indians focus more on education compared to other ethnicities? Is
it that native speakers of a language are just plain lax and lack enough motivation? Is it about role models? Are Indians in India as
good as their Indian-American counterparts? Are Indians more competitive and humble in their achievements? Is it due to the
culture of rote learning, or learning by memorization, so prevalent in Indian society? Personally, I believe that the reasons why
Indians excel are three-fold. Firstly, the inherent expertise of metaphorical expression through dance, art, religious and moral
sermons, hymns, storytelling, use of idioms, songs, etc. over the centuries gives Indian a comparative advantage over other
ethnicities in terms of learning and understanding new languages. Secondly, Indians (including non-residents) usually speak their
native tongue at home. The origin of most Indian languages and dialects is either Sanskrit or Dravidian in which word formation,
word origin, sentence formation and pronunciation are special areas of focus for learners. It is thus easy for Indians to appreciate
the nuances of a new language. Thirdly, it is the environment created at home and at the community level. A huge majority of the
Indian-American kids reaching the finals are children of highly qualified professionals from southern India, most of them coming from
top-notch Indian engineering and professional colleges. Most of these guys would have progressed through a highly competitive
system of selection throughout their academic and professional lives and would now be in a position to pass on the mantle to their
children. So, you would see their kids studying at any given point in time, rather than playing basketball. However, whatever may be
the reason behind their success, what is certain is that these kids are hugely talented, gifted and hard-working. Their success needs
to be celebrated by everyone, which unfortunately doesnt seem to be the case.
The continued success of the Indian-American kids has been met with racism and bigotry online. Some comments tweeted online:
'Why are the people in the spelling bee foreign?' Jerry Michalak asked, instead of marveling at the teenagers' ability to master
complex words. And @heasal87 tweeted: 'Why are there no American kids left in the spelling bee? I'm ashamed of our kind. Parents
- step it up.' This is a pity and a shame. America it seems, very much like India, still needs to come to terms with diversity and
equality. This is surprising, given that almost all Americans are actually immigrants with the original Americans (native Indians)
living in obscurity. But then we have no time for the bigots. As an Indian, its time for us to celebrate and share these positive
feelings. At the same time, we also need to be realistic and take stock of the quality of language (pronunciation, grammar,
vocabulary etc.) our students and we as mentors use at our institutions. Language skills are extremely important for success in an
individuals career. It is no coincidence that a majority of the finalists of the spelling bee contest end up in the top universities of the
world. How good is your spelling, try the CNN spelling bee at: http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2015/05/us/spelling-bee-quiz/

Written by: - Dr. Amit Mittal

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