GOSSIP: Only Hoosier Bounced From National Spelling Bee
The last Hoosier standing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee — Modhura Chakravarty, 13, of West Lafayette — got knocked out in the difficult fifth round.
One of only 32 spellers still in the competition after four rounds, Modhura was asked to spell “Bayesian.” The mathematical term is named after the 18th-century statistician Thomas Bayes, and was unfamiliar to Modhura.
// // “I just tried to figure it out,” she said. “Since it’s a name, it’s not as easy to guess.”
One of the calmer competitors, Modhura used her finger to trace her best guess on her palm before incorrectly spelling “b-a-i-s-i-a-n.”
Her strong showing earned her $400, a commemorative watch and a $100 U.S. savings bond.
The competition started Wednesday with 273 spellers from around the world. Their scores from a written test, the first round of competition, were combined with the results from two rounds of oral spelling Thursday to cull the field down to 48 semifinalists.
Modhura, the only one of 12 Hoosier competitors who survived to the semifinals, easily spelled “pongee” in the fourth round. The word is a type of Chinese fabric.
During Thursday’s preliminaries, she correctly spelled “geniculate” and “egregious.”
She tied for 20th, along with the 12 other spellers knocked out in the fifth round.
“I just hoped to do as good as I could, so this is great,” she said of her placement.
Modhura is an avid reader, and spelling is not her only talent. Modhura advanced to the state level of Mathcounts this year, plays the flute and piccolo and has participated in Indiana Music Educators Association’s “Circle the State with Song” for two years.
In addition to participating in the national spelling bee, Modhura advanced to the state level of Mathcounts this year.
She hopes to become a pediatrician.
Indiana has had three national champions. Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette won in 2008. David Scott Pilarski Tidmarsh of South Bend won in 2004, and Betty Robinson of South Bend won in 1928.
This year’s competitors – including a record 266 from the U.S. – range in age from 8 to 15. The spellers come from as far away as China, New Zealand and Ghana.
All spellers get at least $100 in cash, a commemorative watch and a $100 U.S. savings bond. The 2010 champion gets $30,000 in cash, a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,500 savings bond and other prizes.
This year’s bee is the last one held in Washington. Next year, it moves a few miles away to a larger venue in suburban Maryland that can accommodate the throngs – family members, friends and press – that seem to get bigger each year, thanks in part to the cult-like status the bee has attained through films, books and Broadway musicals.