14-year-old Indian-American Harini Logan wins the Scripps Spelling Bee 2022 title

Indian-American eighth-grader Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2022 after a historic spell-off round. She faced off a rapid spelling round with another finalist, 12-year-old Vikram Raju, to clinch the title and take home the prize of US $50,000 or around Rs 38 lakh.

Harini Logan’s final winning word was ‘Moorhen’, which is the female of the red grouse.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual event in the US held the week after Memorial Day. The contest which first began in 1925, was cancelled due to Covid in 2020, for the first time after World War II. And the last contest was held virtually. People across the US and some even around the world, tune in to the show every year, to catch the contest of spelling words in the English language. And Indian-Americans in particular have become synonymous with the event.

HARINI LOGAN’S VICTORY STORY

Harini Logan, a 14-year-old who hails from San Antonio, Texas, has been a veteran in the spelling bee contest, having competed in previous contests but without winning. In fact, her path to the 2022 title wasn’t easy either as she encountered a rough patch on the way. She was even eliminated and then reinstated.

Harini Logan was eliminated for defining the word ‘pullulation’ as the nesting of mating birds, while Scripps said the correct answer was the swarming of bees. However, the head judge, Mary Brooks, reinstated Logan after finding out that the answer she gave is also ‘considered correct’.

“We (did) a little deep dive in that word and actually the answer you gave to that word is considered correct, so we’re going to reinstate you,” she was told.

Harini Logan was able to spell 21 words correctly within 90 seconds as opposed to her competitor Vikram Raju who managed to spell 15 words within the time limit.

This year’s spelling bee was a little different as the organisers introduced a multiple choice question for the first time, surprising the participants. Several heavyweights in the contest were eliminated in this very round. Even Logan and Raju had a hard time during this phase.

Logan was coached by well-known coach Grace Walters, who also coached 4 others participating in the event. Walters is reportedly retiring from coaching after this event.

WHO IS HARINI LOGAN?

Harini Logan is considered the crowd favourite at Spelling Bees. After she clinched the title, the Scripps Spelling Bee revealed that Logan draws her inspiration from US Vice-President Kamala Harris.

“It takes a village to build up a speller,” she said after winning the title according to Scripps Spelling Bee.

According to Kens5, Harini Logan’s current favourite word is Taltushtuntude, which refers to a tribe of Oregonian Indians. However, her favourite word can change almost on a daily basis.

Harini's parents Logan Anjaneyulu and Rampriya Logan say their daughter was only eight months old when she knew which side up was a book and the right way to turn a page.

Harini Logan started her spelling bee stint when she was in grade two, after having watched it on television. She competed in the Scripps thrice before without winning.

Mastering the spelling champion skills isn’t easy either, as Harini Logan herself has a whole spreadsheet of words she failed to spell correctly that runs into hundreds of tables. She says she works really hard to get those words off the spreadsheet.

THE INDIAN-AMERICAN FASCINATION WITH SPELLING BEE

Harini Logan has once again resumed the trend of Indian-Americans winning the Spelling Bee contest since 2008. Only last year, African-American Zaila Avant-garde broke the streak to win the title. For the past two decades, 21 of the 23 spelling bee champions have had South Asian heritage.

Some say it is because these children have highly-educated parents and are especially adept at rote-learning and memorising.

 “The parents of these high-achieving youngsters are highly educated and value education. There are suggestions that they are particularly adept at rote-learning and memorisation. They work in clusters and use ethnic and family networks to dominate a few professions. These properties are strikingly similar to what works for their children in the spelling and geography bees,” Sanjoy Chakravorty of Temple University wrote in the BBC.

This time around, 70 of the 234 contestants were of Indian origin.