Congratulations Sparky!

There were some really tough words pronounced at the National Spelling Bee last week, and most of them were the contestant's names. One of our local Southern California kids came out on top. Poway resident Anurag "Sparky" Kashyap has been victorious in the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. No one calls him Sparky except me, and that's because there isn't a chance in the world that I can pronounce his name. I can't imagine what kind of spelling rules go into Indian names...something like "i before e except after dihspnotkuoc" or something like that.

Since he's the winner and the contestant closest to my home town, I get to take a little pride in his accomplishment, kind of like the way Los Angeles baseball fans take pride in the accomplishment of their nearest major league team, the Anaheim Angels.

Sparky is another in a long line of Indian-American contestants and winners in the Bee (that's India-Indian, not Injun-Indian). According to a report I read from the NY Times, the attraction of this event to the Indian community all started with the 1985 victory of Balu "Eye Chart" Natarajan. By the way, that's Dr. Eye Chart to you - he's a physician now.

Success in academic contests like this are a source of great pride among many in the Indian community, and rightfully so, since the top four winners this year were all of Indian descent, and five of the last seven winners had roots to the subcontinent. The 2003 documentary "Spellbound" featured stories on a number of the 1999 contestants, one of whom was Indian. You really need to rent that movie to get an appreciation for the work involved in this contest, and the over-the-top level of dedication of the parents.

Of course, community pride comes in many different forms. For instance, in the mideast, an Islamic radical feels a sense of community pride when he finds out his suicide car bomb will be a late model rather than a junker like the other guys got. It's all relative.

But I digress. Great job, Sparky! You're a hero to the folks back home and your hard work has paid off. Now put the books away and lose yourself in some video games like the other American kids.