Topic started by Priya (@ gateway.gmcc.ab.ca) on Thu Nov 8 11:59:04 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi guys nad gals!
I am a great fan of Kalki. I love his Ponniyin Selvan. Plesae share your thoughts about this wonderful book.

Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: S.D.Vishnu Vardhan (@ ms902c.msc.uky.edu) on: Mon Feb 25 12:43:18
  
  Ponniyin selvan is the best of all the novels I have ever read. It is, no doubt, a classic of all times!
  
  
• From: aruvi (@ l-ml403-23g.cavern.carleton.ca) on: Mon Feb 25 20:57:26
  
  Questions...
  
  So who really is Nandini's father? It is never revealed, he never committed himself even when we thought he did...
  
  
  
• From: Rajeswaran (@ 168.167.21.159) on: Wed Feb 27 11:47:09
  
  great postings!!
  No doubt, in contemporary Tamil literature PS stands tallest!
  
  Thank you Priya, for starting this and thanks everyone who posted.
  
  PS was made into a very appealing 'stage Drama 3 tears ago and the reviews were 'raving'!!!!
  I saved from 'www.chennaionline.com' web page asbout this; it is true that kamalaHasaan bought the 'rights' to make a movie and then mani Rathnam bought it from him. Now these guys (forgot name, very sorry) who made the drama, are preparing a TV mega-serial of it with the same drama artists.
  
  believe me, i was literally praying to God (hv no belief in God, hardly ever pray) that 'this adventure' of making a TV serial should not tarnish the 'images' i have created in my mind about each and every character.
  
  But from the reviews, i understand that the drama was 'really excellent'.
  
  Please find out AND LET US ALL HELP THESE GUYS WHO ARE MAKIING A SERAIL.
  Nobody will make a movie of PS, so do not worry!!!
  
  Shall comer back later; Nandini's father is the Pandya kind who happened also to get to the island and impregnate her; the pandyan who 'KarikAlan' slays in the presence of nadhini is the son of that king; so, he is nadhini's brother (saka-utharan: sakothatran); that is why nadhini pleads for him and is 'forever' vengeful of 'karikAlan' whom she really loved once.
  But karikAlan mistakes that she 'loved that Pandiyan'whom he slayed.
  
  With her childhood jealousy on the Royal 'Kunthavai' she was too quick to accept her position as sister to a royal Prince / King (Pandya) when she learnt about that truth.
  again, do not mistake that the 'oomai' is her mother; her 'twin sister' is her mothber!!
  
  KALKI isd an 'avatar' of 'kalki' at leats as far as Tamil literature is concerned!!
  
  
• From: Rajeswaran (@ 168.167.21.159) on: Wed Feb 27 11:50:29
  
  Sorry folks, for the several typing errors in my posting.
  
  
• From: confusion theerkanumE:-) (@ l-ml411-3g.cavern.carleton.ca) on: Wed Feb 27 12:39:59
  
  Those conclusions are not possible...
  
  When Nandhini and Karikalan meet at last, karikalan tells her that she made him kill Pandya by saying that he was her lover, because she knew he would hate anything she loved. And she accepts that. So it can't be out of revenge...
  
  Moreover, there is that young pandiya child...I am going to assume that the child is not really Nandhini's but her brother Pandiyan's:-)
  
  Also, in the wall images that Manthaagni shows Arulmozhi varuman, it is she that has the twin children. Moreover, Nandhini reveals that she is her mother...
  
  I think that Kalki lost out on some of these issues...something that gets me still is the ages of the characters. Nandhini has to be 2 if we look at it all correctly and therefore, Shenthan Amuthan has to be 25. But when he introduces him Kalki portrays him as a young boy. Vallavarayan vanthayathevan sees him as a 'siruvan'? Now how can that be, if Vallavaran himself has to be around 25-26...after all, Karikalan calls the latter 'thambi' in many occasions.
  
  
• From: indu (@ 202.9.181.199) on: Fri Mar 1 13:52:13
  
  hi folks
  actually even i have been having the same doubt. initially kalki portrays senthan amudan as an innocent boy but insignificant character, but later attaches much importance to his character, to the level of saying that he knew that he was a prince by birth???!!!!
  i gathered that nandini and mathurandakan were born to oomai rani, but still it is not clear about who their father. most presumably it was Pandiya king. but then again kalki raises a doubt by saying "how can nandini refer to her father as her lover" and in her hallucinations, nandini refers to the pandiya king as "anbe".
  
  rather confused by these conflicting views to be derived from the tale. so gave up the quest and just enjoyed reading it. if anyone can throw some light on the above, it will be most welcome
  
  
• From: vAssan (@ bgp01389207bgs.sequoa01.nm.comcast.net) on: Fri Mar 1 19:52:19
  
  indu
  
  
  cE-nthan amuthan eventually became uththama chozhan,who
  ruled chozha nAdu when Arun Mozhi was away in S.E.Asia.
  He was the biological son of sembian mATHevi & kaNdaRathitha
  chozhar or a paternal uncle of Kunthavai &Arun Mozhi.He was addressed as Mathuraa-nthaga Chozhan as well.
  
  The mathuraa-nthaga chozhan who grew up as sembian mATHevi's
  son was born out of wedlock between one of the uumai sisters'
  and karuthiruman who was locked up in the pAthALa siRai !!
  
  
  
• From: vA (@ bgp01389207bgs.sequoa01.nm.comcast.net) on: Fri Mar 1 21:10:35
  
  
  indu
  
  
  cE-nthan amuthan eventually became uththama chozhan,who
  ruled chozha nAdu when Arun Mozhi was away in S.E.Asia.
  He was the biological son of sembian mATHevi & kaNdaRathitha
  chozhar or a paternal uncle of Kunthavai &Arun Mozhi.He was addressed as Mathuraa-nthaga Chozhan as well.
  
  The mathuraa-nthaga chozhan who grew up as sembian mATHevi's
  son was born out of wedlock between one of the uumai sisters'
  and karuthiruman who was locked up in the pAthALa siRai !!
  
  
• From: kik (@ ts3-139.silcon.com) on: Sat Mar 2 01:34:27
  
  vA: PS padichu romba naalaachha enna? mandaakini devi's sister is the oomai & sevittu lady who karuthiruman loves. She is sembian maadevi's maid and when sembian maadevi sends her to bury her still-born son (how likely is it that a royal prince can be buried anonymously? This is a lift from Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas) karuthiruman stops her since the prince (senthan amuthan) is alive.
  
  Meanwhile, Sembian Maadevi adopts mandaakini's son (she has twins - a boy and a girl: nandini; the girl is brought up by azhvaarkadiyaan's family as his sister), since mandaakini runs away after giving birth (probably didn't want to bring up the children since she was raped). The guy who raped her was veera paandiyan which is why it's highly confusing when nandini claims him as her lover in front of karikaalan. Assuming she was lieing (veera pandian is unconscious at that time) just to see how karikaalan would react, she may have been appalled by what happens - both she and karikaalan are equally responsible. This may be the secret she whispers in sambuvaraiyar's maaligai when karikaalan asks her to marry him just before he is murdered.
  
  
• From: vAssan [originaly from ponni vaLa nAdu:) ] (@ bgp01389207bgs.sequoa01.nm.comcast.net) on: Sat Mar 2 10:07:16
  
  kik:
  
  You are right! Its' been awhile since I reread P.S.
  Thanks for the correction.Amazing what time can
  do to your memory!?
  
  
  
• From: indu (@ 202.9.149.156) on: Sat Mar 2 13:48:38
  
  thanks Kik
  okay, that explains some things.
  still one more question. why does oomai rani believe that arul mozhi is her son and never does she seem to care about her daughter??? whose existence she must be aware of???
  
  any speculations on that front??
  
  
• From: arulprasad (@ ac937df7.ipt.aol.com) on: Sun Mar 3 13:13:44
  
  The guys who made PS as a stage perfomance are Magic Lantern.They did a good job by making it a stage perfomance.But due stage restrictions and time constraint they have to make some compromises.Anyway that was a good job\
  
  
• From: Rajeswaran (@ 168.167.21.153) on: Mon Mar 4 00:55:56
  
  indu:
  I don't think there is any indication in PS that 'oomai rani' loved Arulmozhi varman mistaking him for 'her' son. She loved him more because he was son of the chola king whom 'she loved'; again, by the time she managed to visit (for the first time) where the royals lived, AMV was just born.
  
  
• From: kik (@ ts3-156.silcon.com) on: Mon Mar 4 23:23:03
  
  indu: oomai raani may not have cared about her children because they reminded her of veera paandian. Also, she may not have wanted to explain who/where their father was to the children as they grew up. It's not as if she left them as orphans/abandoned them to die - they were left with her sister and for all she knows they were being brought up normally. I don't remember this bit - but, I don't think that she is conscious when she meets her sister late in the story. cEnthan amuthan and poonkuzhali care for her in the sister's home.
  
  oomai raani loved AMV because he was sundara chozhar (her lover's) son - Kalki makes the point that it was normal for kings to marry several women and this did not automatically mean each queen was jealous of the other/her children. Since oomai raani saves AMV from drowning she may feel a special affinity for him which explains why she interacts more with him/appears to love him vs. AK or Kundavai.
  
  
• From: kik (@ ts3-156.silcon.com) on: Mon Mar 4 23:32:01
  
  Going back to nandini, my take doesn't explain why there's a little kid in the forest who calls her mother - she acknowledges him too. Assuming the child was veera pandian's, what happened to the mother?
  
  If nandini is the mother, then who are her parents? Karuthiruman tells her twin (we are told at one point that there are resmblances between them; not to mention the ploy at the beginning - he travels in her palanquin (sp?) which surprises Vanthiya thevan initially) something that makes him leave for the paandiyan lands. When next we meet him, the twin is acknowledged as king (amarabhujangan).
  
  Perhaps, Kalki was confused?
  
  
• From: Rajeswaran (@ 168.167.21.161) on: Tue Mar 5 03:55:32
  
  kik:
  
  the child was Pandya's child thru' his queen (no mention); Nandini loved the child (just as oomai Rani did to AmV) because she wanted Pandya kingdom; MadhurAndhagan joins her after learning about his birth -because he was also aiming for royal life; Nandini also wanted that life; the child was the heir-apparent until MadhurAndhagan joined the group (RavidhAsan, Nandini);
  lie u pointed out, Nandini must have called the dyeing pandya kind 'Anbey' just to 'infuriate' AK. she relly loved AK, but Kundhavai was her obstacle; and also her sworn enemy, due to the childhood experiences Nandini had with Kundhavai when she was always belittled. it was moreof an act of 'sadist' revenge that she took on AK.
  
  Kalki was not confused; rather, he left the readers guessing. that itself is a great success for him as an author.
  
  Nandini's character was one of great portrayals i hv ever come across. the reader is left with admiration, hatred, adoration, sympathy, for Nandini. Everyone would rave to meet a person like Nandini in real life. (one of the hubbers did that!)
  There is a prominent person in Tamil Nadu, i would always equate with Nandini!! guess who!
  
  
• From: srini (@ 203.106.8.25) on: Wed Mar 6 01:57:47
  
  Is it J?