Comments on: We are the Champions

By: NissankaW

NissankaW — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:19:51 +0000

I am a desi and I am all for intellectual accomplishment and I say well done to Kavya. At the same time I cringe a little at how cliched we tend to be. I do hope that her parents also give her a balanced life and pay attention to developing her as a well rounded individual-judging by the number of Desi spelling bee winners, I think it has something to do with stage parenting by their desi parents too. It is a little embarrassing to see how many desi nerds are around. In real life, book learning will only get you so far. It will also not prevent you from being beaten up in the schoolyard I saw this item on “The Onion”.

“Spelling Bee Winner Fails To Spell Way Out of Schoolyard Beating”

Perhaps this is why mostly Caucasians rule the world, not only do they produce thinkers, they also produce good soldiers and we on the other hand are a little one-dimensional in how we bring up our children.

By: fallen jhumki

fallen jhumki — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:27:10 +0000

Dekha lakh lakh pardesi kids, aint nobody like a desi kidddd :]

im like serious, guys!

By: Kush Tandon

Kush Tandon — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:40:53 +0000

Astronaut Sir/ Senator, I request to not to blog for the sake of resistance.

Skynet is closing in (Hint: Razib is a T-600).

Some of the spelling bee finalists are T-800s.

In 2010 Spelling Bee, T-1000s will be brought in.

The judgement day is getting close.

By: my_dog_jagat

my_dog_jagat — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:23:54 +0000

"we are the champions?" did we reinstate Freddy's desi card?

As usual, Manju has the best line.

By: sridhar

sridhar — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:05:08 +0000

It's a pity Aishwarya's parents didn't have her reading Asterix comics

This exactly what my wife and I were talking about when we saw her misspell menhir.

By: sulabh

sulabh — Sat, 30 May 2009 15:01:38 +0000

Most of themn say it jokingly. It has a comical dimension, and shows the self-deprecating good humor of those who joke about it

"Self-deprecating" hmmm... you may want to look it up.

Mocking a kid who has just became a teenager, how is that selfdeprecating ?

By: sumithar

sumithar — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:26:50 +0000

It’s a pity Aishwarya’s parents didn’t have her reading Asterix comics- if nothing else that’d have ensured she survived for another round and given us the female equivalent of last year’s face off between Sameer and Siddarth.

By: suede

suede — Sat, 30 May 2009 08:03:27 +0000

Rachel Maddow interviewed Kavya today. http://rachel.msnbc.com

I'm amazed at the poise and confidence in this 13 year old, who'd like to be a neurosurgeon (no surprises there)

How many ppl can spell or pronounce her last name? S.h.i.v.a.s.h.a.n.k.a.r. My theory on why Indians excel at spelling bees : our long and twisty surnames.

By: Bees' Bonnets

Bees' Bonnets — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Bees also postpone gratification big time, and seems that is also a big predictor of later success in life.

By: louiecypher

louiecypher — Sat, 30 May 2009 04:12:43 +0000

The kids demonstrate discipline which is required for future academic & professional success, but the best predictor of success in the verbal portions of standardized tests is a love of reading….with a dictionary around when an unfamiliar word is encountered. Anyway I am sure some of these kids are self motivated, I apologize for assuming that there must be type A parents behind this drive to become lexical hegemons.