…the Americans robbed me of a Spelling Bee trophy in school when I spelt “tumour” T-U-M-O-R and had to settle for runner-up position. Today I’ve been vindicated by 13-year-old Anurag Kashyap, an Indian-American who won the 78th US National Spelling Bee Competition.
(“Beta, tumne meri laaj rakhi.”
“Yeah, dude, whatever.”)
Anyway, what I’m looking forward to now are the impassioned letters to the editor/opinion polls/editorials debating whether this is something for Indians to be proud of, or whether we should just give it the blasé “did you hear old Vidiiaa won the Nobel” treatment.
P.S. Thirteen-year-olds are expected to know the spelling of “”appoggiatura”? When was the last time any of you used that word in polite company?
I felt compelled to leave a comment as I had watched the documentary on a spelling bee contest. It was named spellbound. I must confess that I enjoyed it as a well made docu and sure enough it was an indian who won that year too. But what i really want to say is that the way in which a particular indian boy was pushed by his father to win the spelling bee was enough to send shivers down my spine.
ReplyDeleteI really find myself entertaining mixed feelings when i read about 'indian' performances abroad. Are we supposed to feel proud? I yes, why?
Anyway...keep ranting. You rant on Bollywood was a good read.
-eva
Ive named one of the wall lizards Appoggiatura in honour of your almost-victory at the Spelling Bee
ReplyDeleteAh yes, "appoggiatura". Need to find ways to work that into casual conversation. We might, for instance, speak of an "Appoggiatura complex" -- the inability to spell obscure words correctly at spelling bees.
ReplyDelete