29 Indian Americans among 286 spelling bees

WASHINGTON: A record 286 spellers, including 29 of Indian origin, are vying for more than $40,000 in prizes at the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee that gets under way on Wednesday. Among the Indian American contestants in the 80th edition of the event is Kunal Sah, 13, an 8th grader from Utah, who hopes to draw attention to his plight if he wins.

His parents were deported to Bihar, India last year, when his father was denied political asylum.

Among the finalists twice before, an angry Sah is determined to win this time because he believes that might bring his family back. But his father's case appears a difficult one, the 'New York Times' reported.

The elder Sah came to the US in 1990, and when his visa expired he applied for political asylum on grounds that he would be persecuted because as a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, his life was threatened by Muslims as he had participated in anti-Muslim riots and the destruction of the Babri Masjid Mosque.

In this year's competition, there are 147 girls (51.4 percent), and 139 boys (48.6 percent), a typical spread found in previous years, say organisers.

There are 11 ten-year olds, 28 11-years olds, 66 12-year olds, and 105 13-year olds, 75 14-year olds and just 1 fifteen-year old. A large majority come from public schools (67.13 percent).

Among the Indian Americans, Kavya Shivashankar, 11, is considered a favorite this year because she beat out 265 mostly older spellers on her first try and placed 10th in the 2006 national spelling bee. "I just really like spelling."

Kavya spends an average of about 90 minutes a day after school studying spelling lists and being quizzed by her dad. On weekends, she prepares four to five hours a day. For inspiration, she hangs pictures on her bedroom walls of Kerry Close and other spelling bee champs raising their trophies triumphantly in the air.

"I used to do ice skating, but I don't find a lot of time for that anymore," she said. "But I still practice my violin and take Indian dance class and ride my bike."

"I know I'm going to try my best," Kavya said. "And I know I'm going to have fun. The rest comes down to luck."

Samir Patel, 13, who is competing for his fifth and final year, said spellers aren't really any different from dedicated competitors in sports, music or any other field.

"Other people may spend most of their spare time swimming or playing piano," he said. "We just spend most of our spare time spelling."

They are driven by a love for words, a desire to challenge themselves and the hope of winning. "I'm not doing it for the prize alone, but if it wasn't for the prize, I probably wouldn't be doing it," Samir said.

Two years ago, Samir Patel wasn't happy when he finished second after missing the word 'Roscian' while his opponent correctly spelled 'appoggiatura.'

Appoggiatura, a type of musical note, looks a lot uglier in print, but Roscian, with its capital letter, is one of those dreaded proper adjectives, words based on names that don't always follow the usual rules of structure that help the best spellers piece together the letters.

"A lot of times the difficulty is just a matter of opinion," said Samir.

Last year's winner, Katharine Close, 14, said she didn't know some of the words that knocked out her competitors.

"It's just a matter of luck that I didn't get those, and I got words that I did know how to spell," she said.