Biggest Scripps National Spelling Bee in history
THE END of the biggest Scripps National Spelling Bee in history came abruptly, and it wasn’t the conclusion that many expected. Naysa Modi, a poised and charismatic four-time participant whose long spelling career seemed to be building toward striumph, sat next to a newcomer whom she had already beaten this year — at the county level.
But 12-year-old Naysa blinked immediately, mixing up the single and doubles’ in the German-derived word ‘bewusstseinslage’ — a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components — and 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani seized an opportunity that he wouldn’t have had before this year.
“I didn’t really think I’d be able to do it,” the soft-spoken winner said. “I had confidence that I could do it, but I honestly didn’t realistically think it could happen.”
FOCUS ON WILD-CARD PROGRAMME
Karthik’s victory Thursday night put the spotlight back on to the story of this Bee week — the new wild-card programme that Scripps launched to give a chance to spellers like him who have to compete against some of the nation’s best spellers at the local level. The field was expanded to 515 spellers to accommodate the wild cards — there had never been more than 300 competitors previously — and four of the 16 prime-time finalists got in through the new programme, known as “RSVBee.”
When only three spellers remained, all were from the Dallas area, which has long been a hotbed of spelling talent.
Karthik is from McKinney, Texas — his family moved there specifically so he could go to a school that takes part in the Scripps programme.
Naysa is from Frisco, less than 15 miles to the west. And thirdplace finisher Abhijay Kodali lives in Flower Mound, another 40 miles west.
Naysa knocked off Abhijay in the Dallas regional bee after topping Karthik in their county bee. The region is one of a few that sponsors two spellers for a trip to nationals. The wild cards had to pay their own way — a $750 (J$96,000) entry fee, plus the costs of travel to Washington and lodging.
“I don’t care,” said Karthik’s father, Krishna Nemmani. “I know his calibre.”
Like many top spellers, Karthik was a precocious preschooler — he arranged block letters to spell ‘horse’ at age three and won his first spelling bee at 41/2, his dad said.
His winning word was ‘koinonia’ , which means Christian fellowship or communion. He knew that one. He also knew the word Naysa missed. But he didn’t pretend to be infallible, saying there were about eight or nine words in the prime-time finals he didn’t know — a rare admission for a champion.
“She’s a really, really good speller. She deserved the trophy as much as I did,” Karthik said of Naysa. “I got lucky.”
Karthik is the 14th consecutive Indian-American champion, and 19 of the past 23 winners have had Indian heritage. He takes home more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.