"We lost the Spelling Bee. I am an Indian-American and I am devastated," Hari Kondabolu wrote on Twitter as he posted a video laced with sarcasm. With over 1,000 retweets and 26,000 views on Instagram, the video has gone viral since.
"I am happy for her but this is tough," Kondabolu said as he congratulated Zaila Avant-garde, this year's winner and the first African-American champion in the Bee's history.
Indian Americans have been glorious winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2008, until this year when Indian American finalists Chaitra Thummala and Bhavana Madini came second and third respectively.
In the two-minute video, Kondabolu funnily implied that Indian Americans give the Bee importance as if "this is the only thing we had". "You might think, what about the Geography Bee, Hari? That's small potatoes, everybody," he said.
Some Twitter viewers called the video "genius", while some commented "feels" as the 38-year-old comic spoke to his audience about it being "one of the hardest days in Indian American history" and told the Americans, that if their Indian American colleagues do not come to work, they should know why.
"It's over," he exclaimed with sarcasm to hint at the end of the 12-year winning streak, adding that and he may just have to watch the end of the last twelve seasons just to feel that adrenaline rush.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)