Media Release
Mangalore, Jan 14: On Saturday January 12, Mangalore hosted the city finale of Radio Mirchi and HDFC Life’s ‘Spell Bee – India Spells 2013’, Season 5. In what can be termed as India’s biggest and the only spelling contest, Vaishnavi Ballal from Sharada Vidyalaya School, Mangalore emerged as the winner along with the first runner up Shazma Sharief from St Ann’s High School who will now proceed to compete in the semi-finals stage of the competition.
HDFC Life Spell Bee India Spells 2013 is the Indian counterpart of the highly acclaimed Scripps National Spelling Bee, USA.
The initial round of this spelling competition received an outstanding response. Mangalore is one of the 35 cities in which such city-finales will be happening over the month. The top 2 spellers from each city will then compete with each other in the next round. Of which, the top 16 scorers across India will battle it out in the grand finale of HDFC Life Spell Bee to be held in Mumbai in February, 2013.
More than 300 spelling enthusiasts from across the city participated in the fifth edition of HDFC Life Spell Bee, a remarkable surge in the number of participants. This reiterates the popularity of Spell Bee not only among the school students, but parents as well. The city final was hosted by RJ Arpithand graced by the Vidya Dinkar - joint secretary of Indian Social Action Forum and Cheryl D’Souza from HDFC as the chief guest for the competition.
In the initial phase, an on-ground exercise was conducted across 20 schools in Mangalore where children were given spelling tests. Top 20 scorers from each school then competed in the city finals round. The culmination of Spell Bee 2013 will see a grueling competition between the top 16 scorers of India to win the title of India’s Spelling Champion. The winner will be felicitated with cash prize of Rs 2 lac and a trip to Washington DC along with a parent to witness the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee live.
Applauding the finalists, Sanjay Tripathy, executive vice president and head, Marketing and Direct Channels said "I am extremely pleased to witness the phenomenal response received in Mangalore, for the fifth edition of Spell Bee – India. HDFC Life Spell Bee in India is considered as the significant platform that shapes the little geniuses’ careers and independent futures by encouraging them to sharpen their English vocabulary skills in a distinctive and an exciting format. I congratulate the Mangalore city winners and wish them all the luck for the grand finale.”
Prashant Panday, executive director and CEO, Enil says, “In our fifth edition of Spell Bee, the competition was even more grueling as over lakhs of students from grades 5 to 9 across 1000 schools participated this year. We started this competition to sensitize young children on the basics and proper usage of the language. The hunt since then has only become bigger. Each year we see the enthusiasm increase. Not only students, but parents are deeply involved in the competition. The participation of these young spelling enthusiasts from Mangalore was astounding. We look forward to similar scholarly cutthroat race in other 34 cities as well.”