Spelling the dream
On: Netflix
Dir: Sam Rega
Genre: Documentary
Rating: 

For desis in America, I guess, to 'bee' or not to bee is not the question — if you merely consider stats on the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest, that annually tests kids on their ability to memorise and spell difficult English words.

Indians represent one per cent of American population. They have won 12 spelling bee championships in a row; and 26 of the last 31 times. Besides, 25 per cent of contestants in this deeply American, toddler-to-teenaged tradition belong to the same community, with the country of origin, India, in common.

Back on Indian news, we have grown equally accustomed to a picture of a scrawny, bespectacled, desi kid, holding a trophy in the US year after year — in the same way that Sunny Leone annually topping Indian Google searches is a foregone result. No seriously; what's with desi kids and mastering English spellings?