Mysore University convocation: Orphan student who worked as a painter bags 14 gold medals

He worked as a mason and a painter during his spare time to earn some money for meeting his educational expenses.

Mysore (Karnataka): The University of Mysore held its 102nd convocation at Crawford Hall on Tuesday. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot conferred medals to students including P. Mahadevaswamy who bagged 14 gold medals and 3 cash prizes in MA Kannada and V. Tejaswini who bagged 9 gold medals and 10 cash prizes in BA.

P. Mahadevaswamy, a native of Nagavalli, pursued his studies at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Post-Graduate Centre at Chamarajanagar. Mahadevaswamy said, "I lost my father 20 years ago at a young age. My mother worked as a labourer to bring me up." He said that he worked as a mason and a painter during his spare time to earn some money for meeting his educational expenses.

He further dedicated his academic achievements to his teachers and the people who helped him in his studies. About his future plans, he said that he would appear for Civil Service exams. V. Tejaswini studied at Mysuru Maharani’s Arts College for Women and stayed at the college hostel. Tejaswini said that though she is glad to receive medals and prizes, she is less fortunate as she lost her mother when she was a child and her father on the day when she had appeared for the second PU exam at her native place Malavalli.

"I am grateful and thankful for my elder sister, friends and all other well-wishers who have helped me financially during my studies. I desire to complete the Post-Graduation and pursue a career later on," she said.

Meanwhile, Governor Gehlot conferred Honorary Doctorates Honoris Causa (D.Sc) on former Director-General of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) Dr Vasudev Kalkunte Aatre, renowned folk singer M. Mahadevaswamy and film actor late Puneeth Rajkumar (posthumous).