Washington sources have stated that year 14 year old Indian American student has won the prestigious $50,000 National Geographic Bee contest here, becoming the sixth consecutive Indian American to win the championship.
It was stated that Pranay Varada, who is Dewitt Perry Middle School’s eighth grader from Texas, won a medal and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galapagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavor II. Varada beat runner-up Thomas Wright, 14, in the event hosted by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC on Wednesday.
Meanwhile Varada was also presented a lifetime
membership to the National Geographic Society. He also competed in the last
year’s finals. He was declared the winner after he won the first tie-breaker
question correctly identifying the Kunlun Mountains as the 1,200-mile range
that separates the Taklimakan Desert from the Tibetan Plateau.
Before the finals, Varada told National Geographic that winning the bee was a five-year effort of his. “It would be the greatest experience of my life,” he said. Another Indian American Veda Bhattaram from New Jersey finished third at the finals, where it was stated that six of the 10 finalists were Indian-Americans. Second and third prize winners received scholarships of $25,000 and $10,000, respectively.
