NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Dunwoody, GA, May 29, 2026 — While California teenager Shrey Parikh captured the national title at the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Georgia’s own Sarv Dharavane once again proved he is among the nation’s most accomplished young spellers, finishing third in the prestigious competition for the second consecutive year.
The 12-year-old Dunwoody resident and sixth-grader at Peachtree Middle School advanced to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C., where 247 contestants from across the United States and several other countries competed for the championship.
Dharavane was one of only nine finalists to reach the final rounds of the competition. He entered this year’s bee as one of the favorites after finishing third nationally in 2025 and winning the Georgia Spelling Bee for a third consecutive year earlier this spring.
After three days of intense competition, Dharavane secured another third-place finish, behind champion Shrey Parikh of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and runner-up Ishaan Gupta of Jersey City, New Jersey. The championship was ultimately decided in a spell-off after Parikh and Gupta remained tied following 18 rounds of spelling.
Dharavane’s back-to-back top-three finishes have established him as one of the country’s elite young spellers. Unlike many of his competitors who are aging out of the competition, he remains eligible to compete for two more years, giving him additional opportunities to pursue the national title.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee, founded in 1925, is widely regarded as the nation’s premier academic competition for middle school students. Contestants spend months, and often years, studying vocabulary, language origins, and spelling patterns in preparation for the event.
For Georgia’s Indian American community, Dharavane’s performance continues a tradition of excellence in the competition. Contestants of Indian heritage have dominated the national bee in recent decades, accounting for the vast majority of champions and top finishers.
Although he fell short of the championship trophy this year, Dharavane’s remarkable consistency on the national stage suggests that the Dunwoody student could remain a strong contender for the title in the years ahead.
