Pranav Rao is the recipient of Boren Scholarship for Hindi in 2019.

Pranav Rao is a sophomore, and he is minoring in India Studies. He is  fascinated with Indian culture and history, and has taken two semesters of Hindi with Dr. Tiwari along with her course "Indian Cinema: Bollywood and Beyond." This summer, he will be traveling to Madison and Jaipur in India where he will be participating in the Boren South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative. The South Asian Flagship Languages Initiative (SAFLI) offers opportunity to American students for intensive language study of less commonly taught languages such as Hindi or Urdu, and cultural immersion through domestic and overseas language programs. SAFLI students participate in a full-time domestic summer program at the University of Wisconsin. The program is funded through the Boren Scholarship. SAFLI students then participate a full-time overseas program, administered by American Councils for International Education. This takes place at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Jaipur (Hindi) or Urdu (Lucknow). Pranav hopes that after spending time in India he will become more fluent in Hindi. As a Political Science major, who has keen interests in subjects of national security and international studies, Pranav believes that India will play a bigger role in the international community in the coming decades. Pranav hopes that his participation in the Boren SAFLI program will shine a spotlight on India Studies as well as the Hindi language courses offered at UH.