It was Sameer Mishra’s day. I was really disappointed to see Kavya Shivashankar lose, but brightened up when I realized that two of the top three spots would definitely go to kids of Indian origin. Sigh. I guess I will always fail the Tebbit test.
I really liked Tia Thomas too. She looked so determined, and this was her last chance too.. and then, I do prefer a girl to win. All things considered, in the final round, I really didn’t care much as to who won, especially since I knew it wasn’t going to be Kavya.
Still, it feels nice to find that the top two spots in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee went to Indian American kids.
The funniest part of the evening though, was the look on Sameer Mishra’s face when he thought he had to spell “Numb Nuts” on National television. Watch the video:
Tonflourbroab
Savvy Aggarwal
Maria
Arindom Borah
erydaytrams
I lived in England during the years when the Tebbit test would emege into the news from time to time. That was nearly 20 years ago.
For those not familiar with it, Norman Tebbit, who had his views on immigration, asked which team fans of Indian or West Indian or Pakistani origin in England supported when “their” team played England in Test cricket. To be fair to Tebbit he made it quite clear to a young man of South Asian origin whose speech could not be distinguished from that of the “locals” that he strongly condemned any abuse shouted at him at sports events.
Candadai Tirumalai: Thanks for elaborating on the Tebbit test for readers
I wonder how Tebbit would have reacted to people having dual citizenship?
the only person I know who religiously covers the spelling bee. I remm yor prev post last year on the same..
maxdavinci: Told you I was a Spelling Bee addict
Or a Spelling Nazi as DP said it 
I think Norman Tebbit, though described by come as a racist skinhead, felt quite comfortable with “assimilated” people of “foreign” background. An influential member of Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, he and his wife were seriously wounded in the Brighton bombings of 20 or so years ago, when the Northern Ireland question affected life on the mainland.
Whew.. that samir patel guy is supposedly incredible.. and the odds are very high in his favor.. have seen him crack really tough ones.. but has lost out quite a few times now…