Book Title: Ponniyin Selvan (Tamil)
Author: Kalki Krishnamoorthy
Publisher: Saradha publication.
It has been my long term wish to read the works of Kalki. I came across this book in the last Chennai book fair. Since the works of Kalki have been nationalized. There were many publishers.I choose Saradha publications for the competitive price. There were typographical errors in few places, it could have been corrected by the publisher.
Out of all the historical novels written by Kalki,this is the last novel. It's the largest one. It comprises of about five volumes totoalling around 2000 pages.
Amazing book. It takes us back by about 1050 years in time, to the historical period in Tamilagam, when the Chola kingdom was the dominant empire. It discribes the power tussle that happened for succession. Unlike the blood bath you find commonly among the muslim rulers in such a scenario, you will see how amicabily it has been resolved.
The Hindu revivalists have been advocating rewriting history. Kalki has set the stage about 40 years ago. If you talk to the generation who are about 60 plus, you will be surprised to know that the craze for reading this novel in those days even surpassed the 'TV Serial Mania' of today. Instead of writing a dull historical document,Kalki has presented it as an excellent novel that has reached wider audience.
We need more such work that cover different periods in our glorious history.
This is an effort that is worth replicating in different Indian languages. If I had read this book in my school days, I might have developed better writing skills and I might have changed my career.
