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Showcasing a strong connection to his Indian roots, 12-year-old Bruhat Soma, a seventh-grade Indian-American student from Florida who emerged victorious at the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee, revealed his accomplishment of memorising 80 per cent of the Bhagavad Gita.
"So, actually, the Bhagavad Gita, I did this program called Pragma, and it taught me the Vishnu, Saranamam and the Bhagavad Gita. And, yeah, the Bhagavad Gita is 700 slokas. And then they teach, like, a few slokas per class, and then we memorized them," Soma told ANI. "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," he added. Describing his heritage and roots, 12-year-old Soma said he is from Telangana and said that he was very excited to know his relatives were rooting for him. He said, "So, in India, I'm from Telangana, and I'll probably go back in any summer, like, for vacation, or one of my relatives, they're planning her wedding, so I might go back then, but, yeah, it depends. But I'll probably go back pretty soon." Expressing his excitement at winning the championship, Bruhat shared, "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." Being of Indian-American descent, Bruhat's victory holds special significance for many in India who were rooting for him. He told ANI, "A lot of my relatives are in India, most of them are in India. They've sent congratulations. A lot of them watch the video. So, yeah, that's pretty exciting to know that all of my relatives back in India were rooting for me." Despite winning a significant prize of USD 50,000, Bruhat intends to donate the amount to a worthy cause. "Well, I mean, for the USD 50,000, I've decided to donate it to a good cause, but I don't know the cause yet. But yeah, it will be for a good cause," he said. Looking ahead, Bruhat aspires to become a doctor and believes that his championship win will aid him in achieving his goal. "Yeah, I want to be a doctor when I grow up, and this championship is going to help me get into a good university to study medicine better," he underlined. (ANI)
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