Here come the beehive keepers
With last week's Spelling Bee contest won by another American of Indian descent, I come to think that Indians are born intellectual people and are gifted wizards in various fields. Maybe because of how parents rear their children towards education different from traditional American parents.
It would take some time before someone from the mainstream American school kid population would emerge winner as Indian American children have already won five in the past seven competitions. And this year is no difference. Nitish Lakhanpal, Sameer Mishra, Nilesh K. Raval, Arjun R. Modi, Krunal Shaval, Aravind Arun, Saptarshi Chaudhuri, Midhat Patel and Nikhil B. Koganti are among this year's contestants. Anurag Kashyap won this year's contest. With less than 1 percent of total American population, American Indians comprise 15% of the 271 entries. I believe Filipinos have quite a large community in the States especially in the West Coast but as far as I could scour in the list, I can only find Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado as the legitimate yet unconfirmed Filipino in the entry. At ESPN's mock Spelling Bee Draft (now I know ESPN also covers Spelling Bee as much as it covers Cheering competitions), Mercado is chosen by Jeff Merron as the fifth round pick simply because she has the best name in the whole field (Merron: Finally, a sentimental note: I also chose Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado just because she's got a great name – the best in the tourney).
India and the Philippines are both good English speaking countries (India's call center workers are thought to be best suited for British twang while Filipinos fit perfectly with American accent). With that fact, it should not be a problem for Filipino children to be sprinkled in the competition though I admit it's always easier said than done.
India is indeed a force to reckon with. In Davao City, there are seizable number of Indian people who work as merchants and money lenders (we call them Bombays -- not knowing this is one of India's cities, recently renamed Mumbai). My mother used to work for an Indian couple and recalled that when I was a kid, I had an Indian playmate named Sunaina.
Influx of India's programmers helped spur the Silicon Valley economy until the dotcom boom. Now, a resurgence of India's economy is driven by its skilled workforce. Multinational companies have left their cozy locations and relocated to Bangalore, India to take advantage of cheaper labor and make sure they covet the best talents, away from the prying hands of the competition.
In less than a century, India will overtake China's population (if current trends prevail) and it's not going to be difficult to be in where China is now in terms of economic prosperity. It should just be careful with its neighbors especially with border arguments with China and Pakistan as well as harmonious coexistence among its huge Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian population.
As we see how Indian parents bring up their children that Spelling Bee lately becomes a matter of who among the Indians will win, no doubt their future will just be as bright as where they stand in keeping the beehive well-spelled.
Hopefully, this article is properly spelled or else, I'd be put to shame against the kids less than half my age.
It would take some time before someone from the mainstream American school kid population would emerge winner as Indian American children have already won five in the past seven competitions. And this year is no difference. Nitish Lakhanpal, Sameer Mishra, Nilesh K. Raval, Arjun R. Modi, Krunal Shaval, Aravind Arun, Saptarshi Chaudhuri, Midhat Patel and Nikhil B. Koganti are among this year's contestants. Anurag Kashyap won this year's contest. With less than 1 percent of total American population, American Indians comprise 15% of the 271 entries. I believe Filipinos have quite a large community in the States especially in the West Coast but as far as I could scour in the list, I can only find Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado as the legitimate yet unconfirmed Filipino in the entry. At ESPN's mock Spelling Bee Draft (now I know ESPN also covers Spelling Bee as much as it covers Cheering competitions), Mercado is chosen by Jeff Merron as the fifth round pick simply because she has the best name in the whole field (Merron: Finally, a sentimental note: I also chose Nicole Mae San Mateo Mercado just because she's got a great name – the best in the tourney).
India and the Philippines are both good English speaking countries (India's call center workers are thought to be best suited for British twang while Filipinos fit perfectly with American accent). With that fact, it should not be a problem for Filipino children to be sprinkled in the competition though I admit it's always easier said than done.
India is indeed a force to reckon with. In Davao City, there are seizable number of Indian people who work as merchants and money lenders (we call them Bombays -- not knowing this is one of India's cities, recently renamed Mumbai). My mother used to work for an Indian couple and recalled that when I was a kid, I had an Indian playmate named Sunaina.
Influx of India's programmers helped spur the Silicon Valley economy until the dotcom boom. Now, a resurgence of India's economy is driven by its skilled workforce. Multinational companies have left their cozy locations and relocated to Bangalore, India to take advantage of cheaper labor and make sure they covet the best talents, away from the prying hands of the competition.
In less than a century, India will overtake China's population (if current trends prevail) and it's not going to be difficult to be in where China is now in terms of economic prosperity. It should just be careful with its neighbors especially with border arguments with China and Pakistan as well as harmonious coexistence among its huge Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian population.
As we see how Indian parents bring up their children that Spelling Bee lately becomes a matter of who among the Indians will win, no doubt their future will just be as bright as where they stand in keeping the beehive well-spelled.
Hopefully, this article is properly spelled or else, I'd be put to shame against the kids less than half my age.
posted by Unknown at
10:47 AM
1 Comments:
I am an Indian married to a Filipina settled happily in a developed nation, I am touched by your kind words, however I wish most filipinos were like you, because recently a large number of Indians are getting shot dead in the Philippines, there is a rising hatred growing there against "bombays" as they are called , including the demeaning 5-6 slur. I hope you will do your part in convincing that Indians are not a race but a nationality comprising of many races, including mongoloid people that are similar to Filipinos living in the north eastern part of India.
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Anonymous, at Tue May 29, 06:09:00 AM GMT+8
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