The success of students of Indian origin in the US spelling bee contest over the past several years has drawn much attention with TV channels and newspapers in America giving it widespread publicity.
This year, Indian-American students swept the top five spots, led by champion Anurag Kashyap.
NBC TV, one of many channels, which interviewed Kashyap the day after the event, asked him to test some of their top anchors.
Most of the anchors failed the test and only one spelled correctly all the words that Kashyap could think of for the impromptu challenge.
In recent years, the media noted, descendants of Indian immigrants-- less than one per cent of the American population-- have dominated this contest, taking first place in the past seven years.
Behind those statistics lies a beguiling story, not just of immigrant pluck but of a "craze that seems to have swept through the Indian-American community," The New York Times said.
Indians brought to spelling mastery some particular advantages, according to Madhulika S Khandelwal, an Indian immigrant who directs the Asian American Center at Queens College.
Their parents and grandparents are usually educated, often as scientists or engineers, and they generally spoke English and appreciated the springboard powers of education.
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