OK. I give up. For the life of me, I can't figure out the nexus between Indian kids and the spelling bee contest. Geeky looks? Check. Dental braces? Check. Glasses? Check. And lo! yet another nerdy one with Indian creds. has lifted the trophy which, in recent years, has become a rite of passage for these kids. The only way an American or an immigrant child from any other country can lay their hands on the trophy will be to pry it out from the hands of a desi kid. In the parking lot. Somehow I don't seem to swell up with pride after say, the 5th Indian kid won it and quite honestly, I'm even beginning to be repelled by this a bit.
Looking at the stranglehold that Indians seem to have on this contest makes me wonder whether they are naturally talented at or attracted to this contest or are they being pushed and prodded into taking part in them by over zealous parents? Is the Spelling Bee, to an Indian parent, the Wimbledon equivalent for an ex-Soviet father? Many of these XYZ-ovas that occupy the top ranks in the ATP women's rankings had a tennis racquet thrust into their hands by their dad Mr.XYZ-ov and started thwacking a tennis ball probably while still in diapers. May be these kids are forced to spell out diaper when they are wearing one? Whatever be the case, I hope that these girls and boys enjoy a normal childhood and take part in activities outside the confines of the classroon/library. And no, I didn't mean the piano class! I'm waiting to read about desi kids making a habit of winning, say, the Billabong Pipeline Masters in Hawaii.
(Image courtesy: vi.sualize.us)
No comments:
Post a Comment