Son of National Spelling Bee champ hopes to make history

The domination of the Scripps National Spelling Bee by Indian-Americans has gone on long enough that a second generation has emerged.

Last year, Mira Dedhia, whose mother competed in the bee three times, finished third. This year, the first child of a former champion is competing.

Dr. Balu Natarajan, a physician from Hinsdale, Illinois, won in 1985 by spelling "milieu," a word that almost certainly wouldn't be used beyond preliminary rounds today. His 12-year-old son, Atman Balakrishnan, is making his debut this year, and his ultimate goal is to equal his father's achievement.

No pressure, though.

"He does help me and try to make me work harder, because he knows that I want this," Atman said. "If he knew that I did not want this, he would not push me."
"The word bank of most of the spellers or many of the spellers has just gone up dramatically," he said. "I think you could win the spelling bee back then by knowing maybe 10,000 words, and now the kids who win have to know somewhere between 40-and-80,000 words." Here are some other things to know about today's first day of spelling: HIGH-STAKES TEST