Ponniyin Selvan-Kalki

[kannannn]

Yes, Balaji. I remember Kalki giving an account of what happens to the characters after PS. But I found the info about V.devan in another forum (old) when I searched for V.devan in 'Google' (I know it is crazy, but I do that all the time). Obviously the user of the forum didn't give any evidence, but I was wondering if there is any evidence that suggests such an incident took place (like 'Kalvettu' or poems). BTW I haven't read 'Nandipurathu Nayagi'. Somehow I don't feel the closeness to the characters in historical novels by other authors (including 'Vengayin Maindhan' and 'Kadal Pura').

[Anoushka]

I read ponninyin selvan when I was a kid in Kalki weekly. My mother got us started on that! Now last year when I went back home, I went to the book exhibhition in Madras and bought all 5 parts and got it shipped with a few other books.

ponniyin selvan is still one of the best books that I have read

[Sadhana]

It was just recently I read Parthiban Kanavu and fell in love with Kalki's writing style. I am currently reading Sivakaamiyin Sapatham which is also proving to be an amazing read.

From what I hear from all of you, I guess I should have started with Ponniyin Selvan. Maybe this question is stupid but I would appreciate it if anyone can explain as to who Ponni is in this novel? And who her "son" is?

[nms]

It was just recently I read Parthiban Kanavu and fell in love with Kalki's writing style. I am currently reading Sivakaamiyin Sapatham which is also proving to be an amazing read.

From what I hear from all of you, I guess I should have started with Ponniyin Selvan. Maybe this question is stupid but I would appreciate it if anyone can explain as to who Ponni is in this novel? And who her "son" is?

Ponni is 'Ponni' river and Her Selvan is Arulmozhi Varman.

[nms]

I got the opportunity of reading kalki's works a few months back.
Initially 'Sivagamiyin Sabatham' - Padichu mudichu orey feelings..
then it was 'Parthiban Kanavu'.

still SS is my favourite.

Recently I had completed reading PS's first two parts..but due to relocation n job shift i havent completed it..

[Sadhana]

Thanks, nms!

I agree with you, Sivakamiyin Sapatham is a very emotion packed novel. I made the mistake of reading Parthiban Kanavu before this one and I realize that they make references to Sivakami and Maamallar in Parthiban Kanavu as well. I had to go back to read Parthiban Kanavu just to see how these characters turned out... I was sad to see that Mahendravarmar's concumbines mocked Sivakami and (possibly ill-treated her as well). Of course it's all fiction but one can't help but feel for her.

[venkatesannagappan]

Hai to everybody,
I am new to this one.I have read ponniyin selvan 8 times, still if i get time again i will start reading again.so much interesting of that.not only ponniyin selvan is good also sivagamiyin sabatham,parthiban kanavu also is nice but it cant take the place of ponniyin selvan.


venkatesan.Na

[S.Balaji]

IMO, the ideal way to read Kalki novels are to start with Sivakamiyin sabatham , then Parthiban kanavu and then Ponniyin selvan as the stories will form a sequence

Kalki always had a comedy character . for ex in SS its gundodharan & in PS its Alwarkadiyan

[rajes002]

Just finished reading the english transalation of PS. "Good" one... but not "Great"!!

I know ppl will come down hard on me for saying this: But for someone who has read many suspense filled and thrilling english novels, PS only appears as a very good attempt.

I admire the ability of Kalki to weave a fictional story out of a few recorded historical facts. I think Kalki was trying to awaken the tamil spirit in the readers of his time. It was most probably very necessary to overcome the influence of English/western and North Indian language and culture.

I'm not happy with a few things though:

1. Sendan Amuthan who eventually is portrayed as the 'original' Madhuranthakar is introduced to us at the start of the novel as a 'young boy'... but in the middle of the story, he suddenly emerges as a 'young man'.

I think Kalki came up with the 'child-swapping' idea (which appears in many desi-masala films later) much later in the story to introduce another angle to the story (Fortunately, Kalki did not introduce the much used family song idea - Just kidding)

2. It is difficult to imagine the elder sister, Kundhavai not yet married when the younger brother, Arulmozhivarman is getting ready to get married. I think it was th norm then for girls to get married when they are in their teens...

I think the sister was most probably married by the time Aditya Karikalan died. Kalki had to ignore this and introduce the Kundavai-Vandiyathevan romantic angle to keep the story interesting.

3. I think Nandini is a totally fictional character and there is no records of such a person. Kalki had to introduce this scheming character and hint at many possibilities such as similar Mandurathakan-Nandini twins etc to maintain the suspsense.

Again Nandini reminded me of the mega serials of present day, which pit the 'evil vs virtuous' women and show how the virtuous woman emerges triumphant in the end!! However, Kalki has bought out the grey shades in all characters well.

4. I hated to see Kalki portray Arulmozhivarman as the then present-day avatar of Rama with respect to his sacrifice... and goody-goody nature etc etc... Kalki fails in his attempt... moreover historical records show that Arulmozhivarman and his son, Rajendran allowed their troops to raze Anuradhapuram in Srilanka to the ground!

[s ramaswamy]

Hi, I am new to this forum, but I am a kalki fan out and out from my childhood and have read ponniyin selvan, sivakimyin sabadam and poarthiban kanavu endless no of times and also possess copies of these novels, thankfully sold at a very reasonable price, at home.

Ponniyin Selvan is easily Kalki's magnum opus and the last major completed novel he wrote before he died of asthma in 1954 aged 55. He died very young, but had accomplished ten times what people double that age would accomplish in their lifetime!

Since this topic relates to PS, I would mention a few things that have struck me about this extraordinary novel. It's one of the major works of world literature, whether anyone else agrees to this or not. The twists and plots in this novel, as also its predecessor Sivakamiyin Selvan, take the breath away every time one reads it.

The sweep of the novel is so vast and the characters so many that one may excuse Kalki had he not done justice to even a minor one like vaithiyar magan pinakapani. But he has done justice to all, including the reprehensible character Pinakapani who, I think, deserves the way he dies finally, killed by the spear thrown at him by the old Mathuranthagan, who actually is of pandiyan heritage as per the novel.

The other characters who come to be hated by the readers are Kandamaran (Kandan Maravel) and Pallava Parthibendran. Both are drawn to the extraordinary beauty of Nandini, a male version of Neelakesi (naganandi adigal of Sivakimiyin Sabadam), like moths to the flame and are consumed totally, making them look like total idiots to the reader's eyes.

One of the finest characters in this novel is Chinna Pazhuvettarayar, who stands by his brother throughout though is constantly trying to warn him about Nandini. His is an outstanding character of fierce loyalty to his elder brother and the chola kingdom.

What abt Nandini? Another outstanding piece of work by Kalki, as best, if not better, than Naganandi, the Budha Bikshu in Sivakamiyin Sabadam. Both are crucial to the plot of the two novels.

And what about Kalki's fertile imagination> Can any one come near his art of tying fiction with fact in his own inimitable style? I have read Chandilyan's novels. They are good, like Kadal Pura and Yavana Raani, but pale in comparison to Kalki's magnificent double whammy.
And one more pice of info. Kalki wrote Parthiban Kanavu, which actually is a continuation of Sivakamiyin Sabadam, before the latter novel.