Ponniyin Selvan: How I learnt tamizh....!

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Ponniyin Selvan: How I learnt tamizh....! Ponniyin Selvan: How I learnt tamizh....!

Topic started by AK (@ sgigate.sgi.com) on Tue Sep 18 04:41:28 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hi Folks,

I have been a silent lurker on this site for quite some time. I have learnt a lot from a lot of very learned people here. Occasionally I have been quite disgusted with all the "casteist" wars going on. Anyhoo, my post is not about that.

I am a tamilian who grew up in the Eastern and Northern parts of India. Although we spoke tamil at home, I never learnt to read and write tamizh. However, once I moved to Tamizh Nadu, my interest in my mother tongue slowly developed. I taught myself how to read tamizh "Yezhutthu Kootti". Then I decided one day that it was rather shameful that I didn't know enough about my language. Purely, to improve my tamizh speed, I started off with Ponniyin Selvan. (I had heard a lot about it of course and Raja Raja Chola was a particular favourite cos we hail from Thanjavur and for some reason or the other, standing in front of the Periya Kovil always gave me goose bumps... the call of the land perhaps?? I have never had that happen to me anywhere else in the world).

ANyway, the going was tough initially, but soon I got caught up in the story.. the characters... and then as my reading speed improved.. i got fully immersed in it. It took me a while, but I managed to finish it a couple of days ago. I must say it is probably one of the best books I have ever read. Amazing writing.. beautifully characterization.

Lets me appreciate the beauty of my mothertongue even more.

Nandri Kalki avargale!

Responses:

Old responses
From: hihi:-) (@ foley4.psych.ucsb.edu) on: Mon Sep 24 17:10:28

digression: during school days, i had the honor of being called AzhvArkkadiyAn by my friends :-))))
From: AK (@ sgigate.sgi.com) on: Mon Sep 24 22:01:16

Hi Pas,

Yup, I have read too many English ones including works by Alexandre Dumas. It is tamil literature that has taken my fancy now. Tamil being my mother tongue and all.

On an aside, isn't it funny that, in this particular discussion, things are going so smoothly, without the odious and ubiquitous "caste" issues coming in? I have been very disillusioned by so many other discussions on this website...

Thank you comrades for this lively, entertaining,
illuminating and decent discussion.

Vazhga Tamizh.
From: kik (@ ts3-162.silcon.com) on: Mon Sep 24 22:19:21

PK doesn't start immediately after SS - it's set 15/20 yrs later.
From: Vanchinathan (@ 203.197.147.194) on: Mon Sep 24 23:30:57

hihi aka aruL aka azhvArkkadiyAn :-)

Today in Tamilnadu if any schoolboy can give someone "azvArkkadiyan " as nickname we should celebrate it. I see most boys today don't show enthsiasm for reading big novels; it is either movies,
or TV programmes and magazines which discuss movies and movie stars;
and of course cricket; I don't see much variety
From: Pas (@ pas.dialup.cs.toronto.edu) on: Tue Sep 25 12:33:16

Looked up some facts from Kalki's biography by
"SundhA" : Interesting..
* Around 1935, Kalki prepared two stories for 'Talkies". Read out KaLvanin Kadhali(KK) and SivakAmiyin Sabatham(SS) before a group of friends. Friends voted for KK being more apt for film. Waited 2 yrs; no film. So wrote KK as novel ; started in Ananda Vikatan (AV) 29-8-37.
* Apparantly Kalki tried to persuade Balasaraswathi and Rukmini (Devi) to act as Sivakami; but both refused!
* But Kalki went on "writing /rewriting " SS in his mind for many yrs. Acc to SS preface, he had SS in his mind for 12 yrs!
* Before SS came out as a novel, it was broadcast thru Trichi Radio in 21-5-41 as a drama. But no Naganandhi at all in that version! (TSBagavathi of TKS Bros was SivakAmi!) Sundhaa wrote some songs for it!
* Must have written PK as novel around 40 after ThyagabUmi. But perhaps wanted to reserve it for his own magazine, so did not publish it in AV.
(Must have also "rewritten" SS mostly in his mind at that time , because PK indicates that SS ..with "new" roles for many characters.. was already in his mind. ) PK started in Kalki 16-10-41.(Who drew for it? I don't know..)
* Finally, Kalki wrote SS. Started in 1-1-44 and
ran for 2.5 yrs (with Maniyam's pictures.)
* I have seen Sherlock Holmes' stories printed as they originally appeared in Strand (?) magazine. Would it not be wonderful to publish Kalki's novels with ALL the original pictures..?
* I remember going to PK movie just because Maniyam was the Art director for that movie!
* Ponniyin Selvan (PS) started in 29-10-50 and ran for 3.5 yrs.
* I remember Chinna ANNAmalai.. Kalki's friend..
saying (when Kalki passed away in 54) that Kalki wanted to write about Thippu Sultan.. after PS..
From: kuttik (@ acac08e6.ipt.aol.com) on: Tue Sep 25 22:11:58

Brahmins are exposed, you must visit http://brahmins.tripod.com/
From: bj (@ 61.11.77.41) on: Wed Sep 26 11:07:51

pas,
thanks for the great info.BTW, naganandhi's charachter seems to have evolved from a simple 1-D villain archtype in pk to a complex, villain-semivillain-antihero in ss. Naganandhi dominates SS even more than sivakami. Is anyone aware of any other "villain" charachter in kalki's novels who occupies as much space as naganandhi in ss? ( Nandhini comes a distant second in this i think)
From: P Mohan (@ dialpool-210-214-8-202.maa.sify.net) on: Thu Nov 22 15:44:40

where can i get totoal tamil sites index
From: Srikanth (@ dip7-ppp-80.bu.edu) on: Thu Dec 6 06:22:00

Hi guys. I am happy I found this page. I am a big fan of Kalki's works too. Recently Kumudam has been re-publishing Sivakamiyin Sabatham, one of my all time favorite historical novels which I first read when I was a teenager. The tropical storm like passion of young love mixed with history on a monumental scale makes for a potent brew. I am now in my early thirties but remember the powerful emotions it stirred in me when I first read it when I was fourteen. Do you guys know how old Kalki was when he wrote the story? His portrayl of Mamallan and Sivakami's all consuming love for each is quite beautiful. Kalki is definitely a man who has drunk deeply from life.
From: vidhya (@ ) on: Wed Jan 30 05:36:16

hi
i'm amazed to see somebody having exp. the same fantasies as myself. i'm a native of a remote village near thanjavur, though i don't live there.. i feel something very familiar and homely about the brihadeeswarar koil...once i had a chance to visit pazhaiyarai, near kumbakonam. out of the four temples that are supposed to have been there during the later chola age, only two have survived. and it was terribly painful for me to see the plight of the ruined one called keezhthali..the entrance gopuram remains ravaged by time where only the stone structure could be seen. its rich sculptural heritage is astounding. i got back with a heavy heart, and would like to do something about it in the future. after this, i'm dying to read ponniyin selvan, a copy of which i'm not able to catch hold of!
long live tamizh!
From: K (@ 1cust179.tnt15.bos2.da.uu.net) on: Sun Feb 24 00:38:24

Srikanth, how strange I was thinking about Sivagaamiyin Sabatham late this evening and got myself lost in the love Narasimman and Sivagami had for each other - how purely and powerfully Kalki had depicted it! There are many instances when they will only sit beside each other and not even touch each other but the affinity they had for each other would be described so lively that you can almost feel and touch it!

I feel Kalki wrote Sivagamiyin Sabatham with his heart while he wrote Ponniyin Selvan with his mind. And hence, the former becomes my favourite. Also he writes at a lightening speed that as you read you visualize it instantaneously!
From: K (@ 1cust179.tnt15.bos2.da.uu.net) on: Sun Feb 24 01:14:43

mmv, I jsut read your posting about your ma and it is very heart rending. I wish you could have given the book to her when she was feeling better or atleast hinted to her. Well... a suggestion. If you have not already done it, why don't you read Ponniyin Selvan by keeping your ma's picture somewhere very near to you...as though reading to her. Or may be above you so she can also read along with you. This way you can truely make up for what you missed. I share your agony sincerely.
From: Kingsley Jegan (@ 203.199.202.67) on: Fri Mar 15 03:05:28

Amazing ... and so brilliantly beautiful. I never thought I'd find such an erudite and insightful discussion of Kalki on the net. I've followed several discussions on forumhub, but they quickly descend into sectarion flame wars.

I'm an avid reader and great fan of Kalki, Subramania Paarathi(not Bharathi, which is wrong) and Ilango (whose name, sadly, is not known). They rule. Each character is worked, out to a level "essential complexity". Each sentense vibrates with essence, each word the literary equivalent of a juicy mushroom in a well made pulao. Forgive me my metaphors :).

In PS, my favorite character was Poonkuzhali. Every single night that I go to the beach, I can see PoonKuzhali paddling her boat across a moonlit stretch. The romanticism is potent and enduring. I don't think I'll ever be able to forget her.
From: kp (@ eng5-dhcp196.bu.edu) on: Thu Mar 28 09:28:06

I made a recent trip to India and went on a crazy book purchasing spree. Baught Sivakamiyin Sabatham, All 5 volumes of Ponniyin Selvan, Pathiban Kanavu and Alai Osai which is set during the pre-independence era ( a social novel). I am starting to reread Sivakamiyin Sabatham after a gap of about 13-14 years and loving it. I wish I had the time to read it in one sitting like when I was younger and had all the time in the world. But career and other resposnibilities frequently beckon - still managing to have a little bit of fun.
From: muhil (@ outside1.degussa-huels.de) on: Mon Sep 2 05:14:31

Its really NICE to read AK and vidhya´s feeling, since I also get the same feeling whenever I enter in to Thanjavur,Brihadeeswarar temple and cauveri river:)
From: Sriram (@ 165.224.100.121) on: Thu Sep 26 14:45:48

Hi Guys,
A great pleasure to read the postings on this discussion. It seems like a lot of people share the same feelings and experiences. I too learnt my mother toungue tamil by reading books and learning it myself. Never had any formal educaiton in Tamil. Have been wanting to read Ponniyin Selvan for a long time.

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