Bruhat Soma, a 12-year-old Indian-American student, won the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition. He correctly spelt 29 words in the tiebreaker round. Later while speaking to ANI about his achievement, the Class 7 student recited a Shloka from Bhagavad Gita.
A clip shared by the news agency showed Bruhat Soma with folded hands reciting the Shloka.
Speaking about his inclination towards the Bhagavad Gita, Bruhat Soma said, “…I slowly started memorising Bhagavad Gita, then I started doing spelling a bit more but now I am going to continue finishing the Bhagavad Gita… I do believe (in divine power) because God makes several things happen.”
The young champion said he has memorised 80% of the Bhagavad Gita.
#WATCH | Maryland: Winner of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, a seventh-grade Indian-American student Bruhat Soma recites Shloka from Bhagavad Gita.
He says, “…I slowly started memorising Bhagavad Gita, then I started doing spelling a bit more but now I am going to… pic.twitter.com/tXVPrqOe8r— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2024
In the Spelling Bee contest, Bruhat Soma defeated Faizan Zaiki, who could only spell 20 words in the lightning round. After winning the competition, he said it was “a dream come true” moment.
“When I won, I was excited. I was really happy because, for the past year, I've been working hard. So when I just won, it was like a dream come true. A lot of my relatives are in India, most of them are in India,” he said.
Giving a shout-out to the new Spelling Bee winner, the organisers said that he has an “unbelievable memory”.
“Bruhat Soma rules the word! The Champion of the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee! The boy with the unbelievable memory doesn't miss a word all week and takes home the Scripps Cup!” they added.