This Month's Bookshelf

By George Puro

Through the cultural record, demographic changes are chronicled in many forms: in articles and books, documentaries and movies, podcasts, plays, music and more. For This Month’s Bookshelf, George Puro looks at one of many demographic shifts taking place as a result of globalization.

Spelling the Dream

In some cases, it is among America’s smallest demographic that significant contributions to American society are made. For one such group, that impact is found when they are also really small in years. Indian Americans (called Asian Indians by the Census) are the subject of the new documentary Spelling the Dream, directed by Sam Rega. The film is about the outsized impact Indian Americans have had on the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the annual spelling contest held since 1925 (though it was canceled this year). Indian Americans have won or co-won the last 12 national contests.

In 2018, there were 4.5 million Asian Indians in the US. They comprise the second largest Asian group, trailing only those of Chinese descent, and just ahead of Filipinos. About one in five Asian Americans is of Indian descent. Yet Indian Americans make up just over one percent of the total US population—though they have been among the fastest growing segments over the last 20 years. When it comes to participating in American society and culture, however, many Asian Indians are encouraged to start young.

The film chronicles four Indian Americans who begin spelling and then competing at very early ages. There’s Akash, age seven, who has been spelling since age two; fourteen-year-old Shourav, who has been spelling since age seven; Ashrita, 10, who has been spelling since she was five; and Tejas, 14, who’s been spelling since he was seven. But why do Indian Americans’ dominate spelling? Through interviews with prominent Indian Americans, parents and the children themselves, the movie offers some clues.

For one reason, many Indian American contestants have highly-educated and motivated parents who came to this country to pursue professional jobs such as computer engineers or physicians. “Indians who do well in spelling bees in America are drawn from Indians who were very adventurous, who decided to take advantage of the relaxation of American immigration rules in 1965,” says journalist Fareed Zakaria.

According to The Pew Research Center, 87.2% of Indian American adults were foreign born and 70% of those 25 or older had a college degree in 2010, far more than any other Asian group. Another reason, according to Pawan Dhingra, a professor of sociology and American studies at Amherst College who is quoted throughout the movie, is that Indian American parents are driven to provide extracurricular activities for their children not just in sports, like most American children, but also in academic extracurricular activities, especially competitive ones. Indian American parents believe, according to Professor Dhingra, that they need extracurricular activities like spelling bees to get into universities to compensate for fewer connections and a lack of a college legacy status.

India’s past as a British colony with a diverse number of ethnic backgrounds also plays to Indian Americans’ competitive advantage. Professor Dhingra says another key reason for Indian Americans’ spelling bee success is their knowledge of multiple languages: “Being multilingual is commonplace. And the familiarity of language, the ability to communicate so fluently across multiple languages, helps the kids in their minds to grasp words, grasp spelling, grasp languages, nuances, etymologies and that helps them achieve at the Bee“ Indeed, seven-year-old Akash can read and write in three languages already and wants to learn more.

Family plays an important role in Indian Americans’ spelling dominance as well. “When you watch the Bee,” says Kevin Negandhi, an anchor on ESPN, which has broadcast the competition since 1994. “The first thing you think of is that it is a family affair throughout the whole process.” Parents spend time studying and practicing with their children, and younger children follow in the footsteps of and compete with older siblings.

Perhaps the main reason why Indian American children are winning all of the spelling bees is their intense dedication and willingness to study. As, Akash tells the cameras: “How do I win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The way to win the Bee is simply 90 percent hard work, ten percent other.”