MYSURU: Vighnesh Hampapura, who is currently pursuing the Ashoka Scholars Programme, has been selected for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
The 21-year-old graduate from Ashoka University near Delhi is the son of H S Jayant, associate professor in the microbiology department, Yuvaraja’s College, and KK Namita, from the city.
Vignesh said: “It’s a recognition for imaginative learning that studying and teaching literature provides. I also think there’s a sense of adventure somewhere because Rhodes also gives you an extended scholar community which may expand your areas of interest and activity. I’m excited for that influence,” His family hails from Hampapura, a hobli near KR Nagar. Vignesh, who completed primary and secondary education at JSS Public School, pursued science at Vidyavardhaka Sangha PU College. “I was attracted to literature when I was in class 7,” he said.
On its website, Rhodes Trust stated Vignesh’s studies have been driven by questions about genres of literature, cultural flow and exchange, gendering, trauma, and sexuality. “His archival research about the theatre repertory Rangayana at Sahapedia, or his conceptualisation of Carnatic recital, religious rebels, illustrates his academic engagement with art forms that nourish him.”
As a translator, he has rendered into English Vasudhendra’s short stories (slated for publication from Penguin Random House in 2021).