The 12-year-old Bruhat Soma was proclaimed the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner.
In the tiebreaker round, the Indian-American student correctly spelled 29 words. On the Internet, a video of Soma reading a Bhagavad Gita shloka is gaining a lot of traction. In the ANI video, Soma is reciting the shloka while standing with his hands folded. “I gradually began memorization of the Bhagavad Gita, followed by some additional spelling practice, but I’m going to keep continuing till I finish the Bhagavad Gita presently.”
The ANI tweet cited Soma as adding, “I do believe (in supreme power) because God makes several things happen.” Additionally, Soma claimed to have memorized 80% of the Hindu canon.

More than 1,08,000 people watched the video, and many people on social media praised Soma for his Indian cultural roots. “Kid, you have amazing parents.” A user said, “Maybe they can teach some of my American Indian friends how to teach their children good Indian traditions.” “When he begins reciting the shloka, magic begins.” Another user remarked, “You are taken back to a temple of your childhood.” The moment he begins chanting, the accent disappears. A third person said, “Reminds me of Sudhanshu Trivedi ji’s explanation of how Sanskrit is accent neutral.”

Bruhat Soma achieved the esteemed honor and became the 28th Indian-American to do so. It was his third national tournament appearance when he won this year. In ninety seconds, he accurately spelled 29 out of 30 words, beating the score of his nearest rival, Texas’s Faizan Zaki, who could only spell nine.