Tejas Muthusamy: Four Scripps Bees and 'Spelling the Dream'

Biography

What happened at the bee

The Associated Press report carried by The Boston Globe on 28 May 2015, "Ten make finals of 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee", covers the year Muthusamy reached the closing rounds. The research record for this page places him in a tie for seventh, eliminated on 'tartarean', an adjective derived from Tartarus, the underworld of Greek myth.

Two years later he was among the spellers identified in advance as contenders. An AP dispatch carried by NBC New York on 29 May 2017, headlined "National Spelling Bee Becoming Easier to P-R-E-D-I-C-T", described a competition in which serious study programmes had made the strongest children identifiable before the first round. The research record notes that he reached the final fifteen that year. Four national appearances is an unusual total: eligibility ends after the eighth grade, so a speller must qualify through a regional bee, against an entire city or region, in four separate years.

'Spelling the Dream'

In 2020 Netflix released "Spelling the Dream", following four young spellers, Muthusamy among them, through the season. The New York Times reviewed it on 3 June 2020 under the headline "Words of Inspiration". The Guardian reviewed it the following day, calling it a slight but charming documentary.

The film's subject was not only the competition but the pattern behind it: the dominance of Indian-American children at the bee across two decades, and the family effort, coaching and study hours that produce it. That framing is what carried the film beyond the spelling audience and into general review pages.

What the film showed about the work

Competitive spelling at national level is not a vocabulary test. It is a study of language origins: a speller who hears an unfamiliar word asks for its etymology, its part of speech and its use in a sentence, and reconstructs the spelling from patterns in Latin, Greek, French or German.

That is why the AP could write, by 2017, that the bee had become easier to predict. The children at the top are the ones who have worked through structured word lists for years, often with paid coaching or family drilling. The documentary's value was in showing that labour rather than the two minutes of television at the end of it.

Where Tejas Muthusamy is now

No source gathered for this page documents his life after 2020: no university, no career, no interview. His date of birth is not stated in any source read here, and the research record carries no birth year.

The research record also found no standalone Wikipedia article about him. What exists is a run of contemporary bee coverage and two national film reviews, and this page keeps within them.

Why the bee keeps producing famous children

The Scripps bee is one of the few American competitions that make children nationally visible for an intellectual skill, broadcast live, with a single word ending each career. That structure creates a durable audience and a durable literature, from newspaper wire copy to feature documentaries.

It also creates a strange afterlife. A speller is famous for a fortnight at thirteen and then unsearchable at twenty. The honest record of Tejas Muthusamy is four years of qualifying, a seventh place, a documentary, and silence afterwards, and that is what this page reports.

Achievement Timeline

Tejas Muthusamy — every milestone on this page, in order.

2015

Reaches the closing rounds of the ScriReaches the closing rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and ties for seventh, going out on 'tartarean' (AP, 28 May)

2017

Named among the pre-bee favourites in Named among the pre-bee favourites in AP coverage of a more predictable competition (29 May)

2020

Appears as one of four spellers in NetAppears as one of four spellers in Netflix's 'Spelling the Dream'

2020

The New York Times reviews the film onThe New York Times reviews the film on 3 June; The Guardian follows on 4 June

Watch: Tejas Muthusamy on camera

2016 Tejas Muthusamy ProfileScripps National Spelling Bee

A Message from Tejas Muthusamy - Scripps 2019Spelling the Dream

Historical Comparison

Person	Country	Milestone	Age / Stat
Arvind Mahankali	United States	Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13	Age 13
Kerry Close	United States	Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13	Age 13
Hugh Tosteson García	Puerto Rico (United States)	National Spelling Bee champion 1975	Age 14
Tejas Muthusamy	United States	Four Scripps National Spelling Bee appearances and the Netflix film…	—
Roy Seligman	Bahamas	First speller from the Bahamas to reach the Scripps National Spelling Bee…	—

What is documented — and what is not

✓ Documented

He competed at the Scripps National Spelling Bee and reached the closing rounds in 2015 (AP, Boston Globe)
He was among the spellers identified as contenders in AP's 2017 coverage
He is one of four children followed in Netflix's 'Spelling the Dream' (2020)
The film was reviewed by The New York Times on 3 June 2020 and The Guardian on 4 June 2020

? Unverified, disputed or wrong

No source read states his age or date of birth
The tie for seventh and the exit word 'tartarean' come from the research record rather than a page read in full
Nothing documents his education or work after 2020

Questions people ask about Tejas Muthusamy

How old is Tejas Muthusamy?

No source read for this page states his age or date of birth.

Did Tejas Muthusamy win the National Spelling Bee?

No. His best documented finish is a tie for seventh in 2015.

What word knocked him out in 2015?

'Tartarean', according to the research record for this page.

What is 'Spelling the Dream'?

A Netflix documentary released in 2020 that follows four young spellers, Muthusamy among them. It was reviewed by The New York Times and The Guardian.