If I had to tell you in one sentence what I thought of ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, it would have to be this - One hell of a thrilling rollercoaster ride! Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in those times! History, mysteries, intrigue, conspiracies, secrets, romances, philosophy, art… it has everything.
This was my first step into Tamil literature, and I cannot think of a better book to start off with. The Chola empire is a familiar name, but my knowledge of Tamil history is confined to the very restricting pages of high school textbooks. Who were the Cholas, what were the kings’ names? Who were the kings’ families and friends? Who were their subjects? How did they live? The author has skillfully blended answers to these questions and more with his vibrant imagination and woven them all so intricately and beautifully into the story, and this in my opinion is the reason why it makes such a compelling read.
There isn’t much I can say about this series that hasn’t been said already by readers who have loved this story from the beginning when it was published as a serialized novel. I started off with the first book slowly, expecting it to be just another historical fiction, but soon ended up devouring all the six books in the series one after the other in just under a month.
I cannot read the book in original Tamil by Kalki, but enjoyed
the English translation by Karthik Narayanan nevertheless. It’s not the polished
language that an original English book would be in, but I think that’s a good
thing, because it very satisfyingly conveys the “mannina suvaasane” feeling (literally translated to 'scent of the soil') (can’t
think of a better way to say it) of the Tamil people and their glorious, ancient
history.
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