I read ‘Ponniyin Selvan‘ when I was in school. I tried reading it again a few years back, but got distracted after reading one part. Last week, I watched the film adaptation of the book. Film adaptations of Tamil novels are rare these days, and this one being an adaptation of a classic, well-loved novel, was even more rare. The film was well-received when it came out and it was both critically acclaimed and made a lot of money. So, I watched this film adaptation and I loved it. It inspired me to give the novel a try again. The novel is more than 2000 pages long (wouldn’t be surprised if it is the longest novel in Tamil), and so reading it will be like a project. I finished reading the first part today.
The story told in ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is set during a time around a 1000 years back. There is a Chola king who has a chronic illness. He has two sons. His first son is on a military campaign in the north and his second son is on a military campaign in the south. The kingdom is run by ministers and administrators. One of them, who is the finance minister, but who was also a warrior who had fought in many wars, is the most powerful of them. The king’s eldest son is the crown prince. In this situation, there is a plot among powerful people to remove the crown prince from his position and install a new crown prince. In the middle of all this palace intrigue, there is a beautiful, mysterious woman. Whether she is a good person or a bad one, we don’t know. And what is the fun in reading a sprawling epic novel, if there is no hero. So, of course, there is a hero. He is a young man who serves the crown prince, who is entrusted by the prince on a secret mission. We see much of the story through this young man’s eyes. This young man is the legendary Vandhiyadevan.
One of the things I loved about this first part was the history. In many places, the author Kalki takes a pause and tells us that we need to know some historical background to the story before proceeding further. And then he spends a chapter narrating the historical events which are relevant to the story. He doesn’t push these historical things to the footnotes or to the end-of-the-book notes, or expect us to figure things out for ourselves. He puts them in the main text of the story itself and these historical happenings blend seamlessly with the rest of the story. I learnt a lot of history while reading this book. I also felt ashamed that I didn’t know much about the history of my own place. I can name all the Mughal emperors or all the Gupta emperors, describe what Field Marshall Montgomery did during the Second World War, quote Winston Churchill’s speeches, name all the American Presidents, and describe how long Emperor Kangxi or Emperor Qianlong reigned, but if someone asks me when Vijayalaya Cholan reigned and what heroics he accomplished during the battle of Thirupurambayam, or when Aditha Karikalan lived, my knowledge is zero. Zilch. My knowledge of the history of my own place is shameful. I learnt a lot about the history of my place through this book. I’m hoping to learn more as I continue to read.
The book has a beautiful introduction by the son of the artist Maniom, who drew the artwork when the book initially came out in serial form in a magazine. The son is also an artist himself and his work is acclaimed in its own way. I’ve shared some of the artwork from the book, some of them colour plates, while others are black-and-white drawings which show the beautiful contrast between light and shade.
Now, I’ve to get back to reading the second part. Very excited!
Have you read ‘Ponniyin Selvan’?
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