Florida: Dev Shah, an Indian-origin boy, emerged as the winner of the prestigious 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Fourteen-year-old Dev who hails from Florida, took home a cash prize of $50,000 by correctly spelling the 11-letter word "psammophile."
This victory marks Dev’s third participation in the competition, having previously taken part in 2019 and 2021. He is the 27th Indian Ameican to have held the title.
The winning word, "psammophile," refers to an organism that thrives in sandy areas. According to a report, during the competition, Dev demonstrated his knowledge of the word's root, explaining that "psammo" comes from the Greek word for sand, while "phile" means love in Greek. The report added that his parents were visibly emotional as they joined him on stage to celebrate this achievement.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee attracted 11 million contestants from around the world, and Dev emerged as one of the 11 finalists, stated the report. Balu Natarajan was the first Indian American to win the Spelling Bee. Natarajan also became the first child of immigrants to win Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1985. Rageshree Ramachandran followed by winning in 1988.
Nupu Lala’s win 1999 received a lot of notoriety when the documentary, ‘Spellbound’ was released following the journey of the spelling bee contestants. George Thampy took home the title in 2000, Pratyush Buddiga in 2002, and Anurag Kashyap in 2005. Sameer Mishra’s win in 2008 started a spree of Indian Americans dominating the competition for 12 years straight.
Zaila Avant-garde, the first African American participant, won the 2021 edition, breaking the 12-year record. In 2022, Harini Logan won the competition, starting another leg of Indian-Americans winning the spelling bee.