Vikram Sampath is an Indian writer and historian. He is also a curator and musician. Some of the books that have won him accolades are Wadiyar Dynasty (2008) and Gauhar Jaan (2012); the latter is a biography of India’s first classical musician. His biography of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar has received both positive and negative reviews.
Wiki/Biography
Vikram Sampath was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. He attended Sri Aurobindo Memorial School and Bishop Cotton Boys School, Bangalore. When he was 5 years old, his parents decided to train him in Carnatic music under the tutelage of Jayanthi Kumaresh and Bombay Jayashri.
Vikram Sampath Childhood Photos
He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering from BITS Pilani and received a Master’s degree in Mathematics after graduation. His professor wanted him to pursue a PhD in topology, but Vikram had other things planned for himself. He went on to pursue an MBA in Finance from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.
family
Parents and siblings
Vikram was born into a wealthy Tamil Hindu family in Bangalore. His father was a banker and his late mother was a housewife.
Childhood photos of Vikram Sampath with his parents
Vikram Sampath and his late mother
Profession
Corporate positions
In 2005, Vikram worked at GE Capital in Gurgaon for eight months before moving to Bangalore to join Citibank’s global decision management team, where he worked until 2008. He later joined Hewlett-Packard (HP) as a financial analyst, where he worked until July 2013. He put his desire to become a writer on hold until he was awarded a PhD scholarship in ethnomusicology at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. University, Australia.
author
Vikram is famous for his biographical and historical books. He is best known for his books The Wadyar Dynasty, My Name is Gauhar Jain: The Life and Times of a Musician, The Voice of Veena: A Biography of S. Balachand and Savarkar : Echoes of a Forgotten Past. ‘
wadia dynasty
In 2008, he published his first book, The Wadiyars, based on the history of the Wadiyars of Mysore. After watching the Indian historical drama “The Sword of Tipu Sultan”, he found that the play’s depiction of the Wadia people was inappropriate, so he wanted to write some articles about the Wadia people. He conducted in-depth and complex research before writing this book, which is one of the qualities that makes this book very famous and impressive. Arun Shourie and Ramachandra Guha claimed to be his inspirations, but he did not write the book with a historian’s perspective. The book received positive reviews from readers.
My Name is Gauhar Jain: The Life and Times of a Musician
His second book, My Name is Gauhar Jain: The Life and Times of a Musician, is a biography based on the life story of Gauhar Khan, a musician from Kolkata dancer and singer, and the first Indian classical musician to record. Songs on the Gramophone was published in 2012. In order to research and learn more about the singer more vividly, he set up a trust with funding from TV Mohandas Pai to digitize vintage gramophone records. The book has been praised by many authors and readers for providing rare insights into Gauhar Jain’s life and her passion for music.
Wiener’s Voice: S Balachander – Biography
In 2013, he published his third book, The Sound of Veena: S Balachander – A Biography, published by Rupa Publishing House, which tells the history of Padma Shri awardee Sundaram Balachander, a renowned Indian veena player. home and filmmaker. When people came to know about the book, Vikram had to face a lot of hatred as Balachand was considered a controversial figure, but he did not stop writing the book. According to him, S. Balachander was a notorious genius. S. Balachander’s family provided a lot of help to Vikram and provided every detail about Balachander. TMKrishna, an Indian Carnatic singer, writer and activist, found the book fascinating and detailed, which he said described the different stages of Balachand’s life in a sparse manner. Others consider the book to be a well-researched and detailed account of Carnatic music artists.
Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotten Past
The biography of VD Savarkar is the fourth book published by Vikram titled “Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotten Past”. The book is published by Penguin Books in two parts, with the first part published in 2019 and the second part in 2021. Vikram said he decided to write a book on Savarkar because he wanted to pay tribute to Savarkar and have less content. Details about him and his presence in Indian politics. The book was both admired and criticized. Swati Parashar, a professor at the University of Gothenburg, said the book was a must read for everyone, while Janaki Bachler, an associate professor of Indian history at the University of California, said that although the research was meticulous and extensive, it lacked key information . .
dispute
Plagiarism
11 February 2022 Audrey Truschke, Rohit Chopra and Ananya Chakravarti write to the Royal Historical Society president, condemned Vikram for plagiarism and asked for reconsideration of his membership and academic merit. He was convicted for paraphrasing the compositions of Vinayak Chaturvedi and Janaki Bakhle in his fourth book on VD Savarkar. He was even accused of completely plagiarizing a passage from an undergraduate thesis and not properly citing the work of others. Vinayak and Janaki both resent plagiarism and failure to acknowledge the work of others. They want him to apologize for his mistake and withdraw publication of his book. Vikram has categorically denied all the accusations against him and he even filed a 20 million rupee ($269,000) defamation suit in the Delhi High Court. He stated that the biographical passages were very similar due to the same source. Other authors responded by saying that citing publications to freely copy content is unprofessional. The court issued a restraining order at the first hearing, prohibiting Audrey Truschke and others from publishing any defamatory articles or letters. Several tweets were posted in violation of the order and later requested to be deleted.
Vikram Sampath’s book Savarkar: Echoes of a Forgotten Past
Awards and Honors
- Gauhar Khan by Yuva Puraskar for Sahitya Akademi India English Literature
- Outstanding Historical Research Award from the Recording Collectors Association
- He was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society
- Vikram receives visiting scholarship from Berlin Institute for Advanced Study
- He is the founder and director of Bangalore Literary Festival and ZEE Group ARTH: Cultural Festival
- Vikram is a former senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
- In 2014, Vikram was selected as the Executive Director of the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Bangalore Regional Center
Facts/Trivia
- Vikram is an animal lover and has a pet dog named Leo.
Feeding these adorable animals after careful planning #九夜 The puja is blissful. Compassion for all sentient beings is the greatest religion! pic.twitter.com/YOhEQjeIX1
— Dr. Vikram Sampath, FRHistS (@vikramsampath) April 5, 2022
- He loved walking on the beach and watching the sunset.
Vikram Sampath enjoys sunset
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education