the first reaction after reading ponniyin selvan...
god i cant explain it in words... really sad for the next 2 or 3 days.. dunno what to do because after started reading the book the only time i was without the book was in bathroom and while i was sleeping which was limited as well...!
being a guy from thiruvaiyaru was feeling proud that i am living in the place where all the story happened.. then started searching for singachiyaar kovil (i think it is called singala naachiyaar kovil now) .. those days I didn't have the maturity on how to search and whom to contact to get the information! so search efforts went in vain...every time I walk thro the streets of thanjavur which was every day... i imagine the events in PS unfolding before my eyes...
i am silent because i feel like a kathukutty among you people when it comes to our history and hence i am following every threads to learn and know more about our own history.. and i believe some other members will share the same sentiments too.. wanted to contribute but long way to go before discussing things... so as of now i am a silent follower... this time when i visit my home town i am planning to organise a trip to the important places mentioned in PS.
Actually Venkat to answer that I have to say which order I read Kalki's works. I read Parthiban Kanavu first, that was in 7th grade. I was just thrilled and could not get story out of my head for days. I had my mom and grandmother to talk about it endlessly too. My next novels of Kalki were Thyaga Bhoomi and Kalvanin Kadhali. Both I woas very very impressed again, Thyaga Bhoomi arousesd lot of patriotic feelings and respect for freedom fighters. I even had a thyaga bhoomi based script for parents day in school for which I got special award - the script was never screened since the characters were all brahmins and the school thought it would not go down well in prominently non brahmin Kovai audience.
Next I read PS. I thought I had to tell someone so I formed a group of kids - I was only 15 and these kids in 8-12 year age group. Every saturday there would be one hour story telling followed by discussion. Upto Part 4 we did great. Part 5 and the conclusion were disappoointing to say the least - because of so many loose ends. The kids just literally were in tears not know what happened to Nandini and why VK/Kundavi were not married, among other issues - and some thought story is not actually over but parents had forced a conclusion - because we spent too much time on it and not on studies. The only thing we liked about the ending was our favorite gypsy Poonguzhali ended up becoming queen.
For two years after PS I did not touch any of Kalki's work. Then my mom forced me into SS after which my respect increased and sustained somewhat. I read Alai Osai last, after which I concluded that PS was much better :))
well i too read pk first but after i saw the movie. then came ss and ps was over in 3 days.
the moment i finished ps i felt kalki deliberately left it rather unfinished for whatever reasons. that got me into going deeper into his life story. immidietly I read sunda's biography of kalki. the best event in his life was when the writer discovers his wife is illiterate. i remembered nuptial night scene of banupriya and bayaraj in sundarakandam and laughed.
some how while people are enthused about kalki's ability to entertain i was enthralled by his close death experiences, supernatural phenomena and dream descriptions. he does those descriptions in most books but i still consider solaimalai ilavarasi the best.
PS was the first Tamil Novel I read. That too out of compulsion, I started to read it in some some blog with English translation. But the blogger had written only till 41 chapters in book one(if i remember correct)... Then I had no other go the story was so gripping I started reading it in Tamil. Initially I found it bit difficult with extremely huge description of the surroundings etc. But the plot was interesting enough to keep me occupied, so I finished the book some how.
But by the Time I ended I had the same question which every body has Who is nadhini's Father?
Other than that I was disappointed with the way book ended...manimakalai's death.
What i really enjoyed, Chola History and VTs flirting with all female characters.
One other thing I usually feel is Lot of Characters are very much coated with sugar. Like Vikaraman film every body is good. I couldn't accept AMV as idealist. I wanted him more of a realistic person.
But the part which thrilled me was the amount of research. When I read English Novels you get to learn about lot of things say if you read Master of Game by Sidney Sheldon you get to know Diamond mining in Africa. But Till that point of time I thought Tamil novels were based only on emotions not much research work is done in it. But when I read PS I was blown over by the amount of research gone into the book. That totally gave me a new perspective to things.
Tamil literature interested me, the next book which i read changed my whole life( The Smile of Murugan - Kamil Zvelebil).
After reading PS for the first time, I was feeling very very sad for Manimegalai. And also had a mixed feeling of discussing it & also visiting the places involved. Becos of the non-stop topic i was having at home, everyone in my home read PS. I loved all the scenes where Vandhiyathevan and Alwarkadiyan were together - whether it is the argument in Veera Narayanapuram or whether at Madhottam fighting with the cat or the travel in the forests of Lanka, or spying around Kadambur Ayyanar Koil... every scene was so interesting... Till date, I am discussing with everyone abt PS, whenever I get a chance (sometimes I create chances to speak of it :-)). RegardsVardhini
Vairam you raised a good point about AMV as idealist. To me that is really one of the biggest failures with PS. If you study literature they normally talk of 'flat' and 'round' characters (not in shape). 'Flat' Characters are those of people who do not change or develop through the story - he/she has some qualities to which reader is introduced to begninning, he/she exhibits those qualities and ends with same - there is no change with experience, normally no other qualities that are more human, in other words black and white people. Shakespeare has been accused of a few flat characters - many heroines of his plays are like that. 'Round' characters are pepole who realistic, have both good and bad qualities, react to situations like human beings and reader is able to relate to them in an authentic way. Venkat was talking about tragedies and why we see them. An audience can relate to *any* authentic emotion - navarasaas -as we say and that is what makes a movie/novel/anything successful. The most common human emotions are sadness, happiness and laughter so it is no wonder tragedies, love stories and comedies rule the roost in movies and books.
Nandini and VD are well developed 'round' characters. Perhaps the biggest failure of PS is to not develop all charactesr that way - particularly that of AMV.
Venkat, I must read Solaimalai Ilavarasi sometime...I really dont know why Kalki ended PS like that and what was his reasoning behind deliberate move - I can only think he wanted to continue but for some reason could not. I am reminded of Arthur conan Doyle who got tired of Sherlock Holmes after his his huge popularity and decided to kill his hero to rid himself of the pressure and tension.
The angry fans went to court against him and wanted their hero revived. Conan Doyle won the case obviously since thme court ruled that the fictional character was his creation and he could do what he liked with him. But Conan Doyle relented to his fans and revived Holmes in another series and left him an old retired man.
PS was written by Kalki not just as a historical novel. Amarar Kalki has spent more than a year to visit the places along with his Art dept people like Chandra and Maniam to see what the history of the period was. Besides visiting places he had done a thorough study of the copper plates and other books on history like Neelakanta Sastry and others. He has in fact uoted
..I really dont know why Kalki ended PS like that and what was his reasoning behind deliberate move - I can only think he wanted to continue but for some reason could not.
perhaps a premonition of his death????? perhaps didnt want somebody else to finish the book. small time gap between the last episode of PS and his death leads me to think that way.
>I am reminded of Arthur conan Doyle who got tired of Sherlock Holmes after his his huge popularity and decided to kill his hero to rid himself of the pressure and tension.
perhaps like conan doyle Ps makes us all younger but the effort made kalki age faster.
first time sharing my thoughts among our group members..... !!!!!! really i was amazed after reading PS for the first time.... excellent use of language.... actually i read the whole story from my books... she gave me each episode one by one daily.... wil torture her to brng the bks without fail... daily wil visit her class and get the bks... both our classmates thought i went mad....... but i adviced evryone of them to read PS.... many had become great admirers of kalki and PS....
after finishing PS nearly for a week i cant speak normally... just the slang used in the ook came for me fluently.... cant even thnk about anythng else..... really i wanted visit all those places mentioned in the book..... after my journey through PS.... i got much more inspired and intrested to know about our tamilnadu history..... every temple visited after that gave me a new thought.... newadmiration.. and a surprise!!!!!!.......
really cant explain my feelings fully..... anyway i am happy to share atleast this much among u people..... very intresting to read other feelings..... thank u....
PS was the first historical novel i read.After finishing the novel i felt very sad that the story was ended.It makes me an eager to visit those places of story happened and to learn more about our history.And it makes me to join in this group and i learned and learning more about history from the group members.