My love affair with "Ponniyin Selvan" started when I was slogging my butt out in Japan. Having travelled abroad for the first time (and unwittingly during winter), I greatly missed what one would take-for-granted during most of his life - the food and scents of his mother-land.
Sevikunavilladha podhu siridhu vayitrukkum eeyappadum
Well, I tried to quench my thirst for my mother-land, by savoring the literary treats in tamil - available on the net. Well, that was my another first - really using the internet for a purpose. I found sumeetha's english translation of "Ponniyin Selvan" on zine5
I was amazed at how detailed the story was. History is so interwined in the story, it is difficult to make out where history stops and fiction begins. The handling of the narration is a novelty in itself. Sometimes when the author talks to the reader in first-person, it really pains to put the book down. Especially the description of the bazaars of south-india, make me turn around and search for those elements in the market street of Nanganallur when I walk past.
Later on, when I bought my own tamil version of the book, I was amazed at how simple (and thus efficient) Sumeetha's translation was. In fact, when I read the book in tamil, I didnt feel like I was reading it for the first time at all! Rather, I felt the that the english translation was handled with such ease that the language (as it usually would especially when dealing with stories of a variant land) didnt matter at all. What kalki was for "Ponniyin Selvan", Sumeetha is for "Ponni's Beloved". Way to go, Sumeetha.
"Ponniyin Selvan" would be my 'beloved' forever. I salute Kalki for his painstaking efforts, to seamlessly merge history with fiction and provide an epic that would make souls dance with glee about the ages gone by, for ages to come.
8 comments:
Excllent book.I first read this when i was in my 9th std ( that was when it appeared in Kalki.. and any magazines was a strict NO at our house.. so i had to sneak into my neighbour's house over the pretext of babysitting and read it there)
Later i used to try and remebr the details of the story.
Its then,(2003) i saw the paperback (tamil version) of the book at chennai-Landmark...Well.. i barely stpped myself from screaming out of exitement (like seeing a long lost friend) and bought all 5 volumes.Seeing me reading them so sincierly( as though studying for exams) my husband wanted to read as well.. but alas..
his tamil-reading-velocity is very slowly and would take him atleast next 5 years to read all the volumes( belive me i am not exaggerating)..
so what do u think he did...
..one fine eveing he came with the paperback of the same book in English.. Now.. we have 2 set of the same book..
( just as they say in hindi"EK SE BHALE DO")
There was a time for me
where i was even not allowed to have a magazine in my school years...now after reading them several times...each time i see the book in my shelf..i could not help being nostalgic..
For me this book is more than just a story.. its a memmory
Interesting, I can actually emphathise with your husband :), but if you were in school by the time PS first came in Kalki, you must be at least 70 years old ;) it first appeared in the 1940s-50s. In fact we are trying to get a microfilm/CD done out of the original kalki copies in the roja muttiah library in Chennai.
You must check out the ponniyinselvan yahoogroups (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ponniyinselvan/) activity... the members are now actively into historical research (www.varalaaru.com, www.bigtemple.com), temple cleaning (http://templesrevival.blogspot.com) and other literary activities... you must check it out... you will be glued...
I see from your blogger profile that you are based in Bangalore... suganya of the PS group in bangalore has initiated a trip to some historical sites alongwith ASI (Archeological society of India) folks... it would be very informative. I invite you to join the group and have fun!
I am sorry... i missed out a vital detail...I think it was the 2nd tim when it was published again in kalki,..
(ppst.. i am not 70 now:-))
Thnks for inviting me to the group.Shall defenitely check it out
cool. btw, I have tried my hand at writing too, check out my short stories at http://pingfromindia.blogspot.com. I would suggest you read it from the most ancient post... will give you some perspective of how my writing has improved(?) over time. I would really appreciate your feedback.
btw, how do you keep track of replies in my blog? I have no way of knowing if the author of a blog commented back to my comments... how do you do that?
I Shall surely look in to u r collection of short stories.Thnks for inviting me to do so
I normally keep a folder in my Favorites to all the blogs that i have replied and come back to them just to see if anyone has replied.Thnks how i know that u have replied.
Its long time since blogger.com has to introduce something like "My comments to other Blogs".. just to keep track
Wonder when they will introduce this
Hi..Narration is a gift and u have been bestowed with it in plenty.So cherish it and nourish it.
Are the comments to ur collection of stores being under some kind of moderation or so..??..
coz..its two days since i posted them & i dont see any of my comments.. thats y i asked.
Good work.
Please continue them
Deepa-san. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my stories and comment. Theres nothing more flattering to me than when I hear that somebody enjoyed the stories.
About the comment moderation... no the comments are not moderated... however, I think there is some date problem with the new template that I used there... because, I replied to the last post informing about why the delay in publishing my next story... I see it on the blogger comment page... but I dont see it in the new template... I guess it will take a couple of days for them to appear (your comments are now visible, I think)
btw, Deepa-san, did you go through the ponniyin selvan group page? temple cleaners (templesrevival.blogspot.com)? what did you think?
I have signed up for PS groups in yahoo.. but yet to recive approval from the moderator.
pls visit http://horizonwitinus.blogspot.com and include your comments.this is my first blog
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