CIRCLEVILLE – At the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee, held in Washington DC last week, Circleville Middle Schooler Keerthi Radhakrishnan finished 51st out of 278 finalists. That meant he didn't get to go on to the final round.... Though he made it further than any local participant in memory.

It wasn't that he stumbled over a word at the DC round; he successfully spelled retrocedence (the return of territory). But his cumulative score from earlier rounds kept him back.

Radhakrishnan's father, Gopal, said that Keerthi had difficulty with some of the American accents exhibited by the question givers. Still, finishing 51st in a national spelling bee that involved thousands of middle school children across the country is pretty amazing. So are the lists of words that these 12, 13 and 14 year olds are asked to spell!

Schwarmerei, anyone? (excessive, unbridled enthusiasm).

Keerthi, himself, said, "Oh, it was hard. Very competitive, there is pressure." More than that, he lamented that this was "my first national and my last, because I will be too old."

Keerthi is in the eighth grade this year and next year moves to high school.

Gopal Radhakrishnan said that his family's recent visit to Washington DC was hectic.

"There wasn't much free time. It was very busy," he said, though he added that they still managed to do a couple of the things everyone does when they visit the nation's capital. "We went to the Smithsonian, and were very impressed by the gemstones and mineral collection."

And the dinosaurs? "Yes, of course."

Keerthi himself, said, "Washington was very big, very impressive. The trip was really interesting."

The eventual winner of the Spelling Bee was Snighda Nandipati of San Diego, who had placed 27th the previous year. Her winning word was guetapens, which means an ambush or a trap.

American-born kids of Indian ancestry have come to dominate the spelling bee world. They are often called "Desis," and there is a Desi culture that is particularly strong in Silicon Valley, where a considerable number of computer scientists and engineers from India live.

As with any Asian American subculture, there are pressures and competing demands from two worlds. However, many observers report that the Desi kids manage to straddle the cultural divide with relative ease.

One thing to remember — India, with a billion inhabitants, is just as complicated a place as Europe, with scores of different "nationalities" and types of people. In other words, not everyone hails from Mumbai!

Why are Indian American teenagers dominating the world of spelling bees and other academic contests? Since the 1960s, American companies, hospitals and government agencies have recruited many professional migrants — scientists, surgeons, doctors, engineers — from India. Their children have grown up with the Hindu religion and Bollywood, on the one hand, and American pop culture on the other. With family backgrounds filled with high achievement, much is expected of them, and for spelling bees, the fact is that many Indian English speakers now have a better command of the language than either Americans or the British.

Another quirk of the British Empire, which has left curry as the favorite restaurant food in Britain, and cricket as the most popular sport in India.