WASHINGTON — Until recently, 16-year-old Priyanka Dodamani never ventured outside of her hometown near Bangalore, India. But on May 25, her plane touched down in Washington, D.C. — a half a world away from her village, which lacks electricity and roads.
Dodamani is in town for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Only unlike the other 500-plus students descending on National Harbor this week for the 91st annual competition, Dodamani won’t take the stage and ask for “roots” or “origins” of words off the master list.
She is already a winner.
Last January, Dodamani edged out 2,500 ninth-grade students in Bangalore’s annual English spelling bee. Her native language is Kannada, and her parents never learned to read or write, but for several months, Dodamani studied English words with her principal after school. It all paid off when she took first place in January’s competition.
The Bangalore bee is a project of the Sahasra Deepika Foundation for Education, a school founded in the Southern Indian city 20 years ago by Sarva Rajendra’s parents. Now it serves primarily as a residential home and school for girls who come from impoverished families.
“In order to keep [girls] safe, often times [parents] just have to keep the girl at home and locked up. They can’t afford school fees, let alone uniforms or books or anything,” said Rajendra, now president of Sahasra Deepika, which she runs from Loudoun County, Virginia.
Sahasra Deepika launched its spelling competition 10 years ago with one goal in mind: to teach high school kids in government-run schools English words commonly used in Bangalore’s burgeoning tech industry.
“So that these children don’t find language as a barrier, and nothing holds them back from achieving whatever they desire or they dream to be. That is the whole purpose,” said Salma Khader, program director of the Sahasra Deepika Spelling Bee.
“We concentrate and focus on words that are used in everyday language, as well as those that are taken from their subject books,” she said.
The prize for winners is a college scholarship from Sahasra Deepika — an award that Dodamani plans to use to better her own community. After graduation, she wants to be a government employee in charge of building infrastructure in villages like her own.
“I think this gives them confidence to carry on with their education, and I think her vision for herself has become a little bigger too. And the success of this small thing has given her the impetus to do more,” said Khader, who added that very few girls in poor Indian communities go on to complete college.
Sahasra Deepika’s Rajendra added, “[Dodamani] was telling us that she has inspired the other girls who know her. She was saying that they all were looking up to her as an example of what was a big possibility.”
Last year, Scripps National Spelling Bee Director Paige Kimble visited Sahasra Deepika while traveling to India to study a few of the country’s other bees, and she said she “was just transfixed, amazed by the wonderful work being done at Sahasra Deepika” — so much so, that she decided to sponsor Dodamani and host her during the 2018 Bee Week.
“They have no direct pathway to our competition as of yet, but we heard about their story and we recognize the extraordinary circumstances that they’re in, and we wanted them to have the opportunity to participate in the inspirational event we put on in one of the world’s greatest cities,” Kimble said.
All week, Dodamani will have the opportunity to participate in “Bee” events. She is also planning a few side trips to the local museums and to the Baltimore Aquarium.
“They’re changing those girls’ lives. But even more than that, they’re going to change the girls’ daughters’ lives, and it’s all about breaking the cycle of poverty and giving hope where there hasn’t been hope before,” Kimble added about Sahasra Deepika.
Dodamani is a bit overwhelmed by the recognition and events taking place, but said she is incredibly happy to represent India and spread the love for her favorite word, “passion,” which she said helps drive good in the world.
Learn more about the work of Sahasra Deepika in the video below:
