Vikram Sampath is the author of three acclaimed books – Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars, My Name is Gauhar Jaan! The Life and Times of a Musician and Voice of the Veena: S. Balachander, A Biography. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, 2012 and ARSC International Award for Excellence in Historical Research in Music, 2011. He has been a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin and visiting faculty at the University of Queensland. He is passionately working on preserving India’s cultural history and musical heritage through Archive of Indian Music. He is the Founder Director of the Bangalore Literature Festival.