(Image source from: Indian-American Children Win Spelling Bee Contest})

Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalam, both Indian-Americans, came to a tie and are named as co-winners of the annual spelling Bee contest. It is the second year in a row that co-champions were named and the fifth time in the history of the bee. Vanya Shivashankar, a 13-year-old is from Olathe, Kan., has joined her sister Kavya as the only siblings to have won the bee. Kavya won the title in 2009.

Shivashankar and Venkatachalam, 14, of Chesterfield, Mo., intensively competed for 30 minutes, before both were crowned champs. Back and forth they went, correctly spelling words such as scherenschnitte, pyrrhuloxia, thamakau, caudillismo and a slew of other words which would never be able to decode. The crowd roared as Venkatachalam correctly spelled nunatak to ensure that the victory would be shared.

“This is a dream come true,” said Shivashankar. “I’ve wanted this for such a long time.” She dedicated her win to her late grandmother. “I hope I make her happy with this,” she said.

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” said Venkatachalam. “It was the culmination of all the hard work of the past six years. I’m finally happy to have success.” His one word to describe his win? “Ridiculous.”

By Premji