Her victory was long overdue, says Kavya's father

The achievement was an emotional moment, says grandmother

Speaking to Deccan Herald from the United States of America, Shivashankar said the family has not had too much free time to celebrate. After his daughter was catapulted to fame on Friday, they have been been on an interview spree, literally. “We have been on almost all local newspapers and television channels. Our schedules are going to be this hectic for another week,” he said in a tone that spoke of excitement.

Did he expect his daughter to win?  Pat came the reply: “Yes, of course. It was long overdue!” As for Kavya, the feat she achieved was something extraordinary. For the family, especially her grandmother Lakshmi Lata, who lives in a modest house in Mysore, Kavya’s feat was an emotional moment, indeed.

“It may take about a week before I fully understand that I am the winner,” Kavya told Deccan Herald over the phone, soon after an interview with CNN.

In an interview with Deccan Herald, Lakshmi Lata said her grand daughter Kavya’s success is the culmination of all the hardships she went through to educate her children, including Sandhya, Kavya’s mother.

So, when she heard her grand-daughter, who refers to her as ‘Avva’ (Mother) called at around 8.30 am on Friday and said: “Avva, I stood first in the spelling bee competition with your blessings,” Lakshmi Lata was on top of the world as well. After all, she had seen her granddaughter work towards this goal for more than four years.

Meagre income

As for Lata, she had managed the family and her children’s education within the meagre income agriculture brought. Lakshmi Lata was married when she was barely 15 years of age to Govindappa, an agriculturist near Hassan.

Witnessing all the fights around the property sharing in that family which was stinking rich, Lakshmi Lata vowed to bring up her children by giving them best education possible. “I shifted to Mysore to get my children educated. When most of our contemporaries built homes and settled down, I used the money we got by selling lands to educate my children. Often, when my relatives mocked at me, I wondered when it would all end. Today, I have proved them wrong, and how!” she says.

Kavya’s mother Sandhya, who is Lata’s second child, studied MBBS at Adichunchanagiri Medical College in Mandya, only to give it up and turn a software professional in the United States of America.

Sandhya got married to Mirle Shivashankar, a software Engineer who was in Kansas, USA, after she completed house-surgeon’s course in 1994. Kavya’s father Mirle Shivashankar is son of famous advocate in Mysore, Rajarame Gowda. The family resided at Vontikoppal.

Kavya was born in 1996 and Lata was there to take care of her daughter’s postpartum needs. Kavya spent her early years in Mysore amidst her uncles and aunts. Her uncle Dr Amarnath is practising in Bangalore, her aunt Dr Asha Manjari has done her PhD and is working at Geology dept, University of Mysore.

Another aunt, who had completed her PhD too, died few years ago in a road accident. “She was here till she turned almost two. I brought an infant who had just turned 2.5 months old to Mysore, alone. Kavya, a very silent and well-behaved child stayed with me for more than a year and half after that. I took her back when I went next,” she recollected.

Kavya has spent some holidays in Mysore too. “She was here last year, after finishing a similar competition. Kavya enjoys being here, but prefers USA for long-term living,” she says, not disturbed with her grand daughter’s choice.

What next for Kavya? “She wants to be a neurosurgeon,” says Lata. Apparently, Kavya’s younger sister Vanya (7) is also walking her sister’s path as far as spelling bee competitions are concerned. She already has some prizes in her kitty. Mysoreans are waiting for another champion with bated breath.