What can I say about the One
The mighty Raja Raja Chozhan
Depicted so well by Kalki's pen
In a work you could read again n again
That goes by the name Ponniyin Selvan
Ponnyin Selvan - completed
I picked up Ponniyin Selvan on a whim. Following my interest in historical fiction, Kindle showed Ponniyin Selvan on my recommendation list. I knew it was a 5 volume set and a significant investment of time. The fact that the first two books were available on Kindle Unlimited pushed me towards it - and Pavitra Srinivasan's translation, a few pages in, ignited my interest immensely. Only later after reading other translations did I realize how wonderfully she has preserved what I perceive as the original tone of Kalki's work. The original work was serialized in a magazine and I, to some extent, experienced reading the book in a serialized form owing to the incomplete checks I did prior to embarking on the project. I only saw 2 volumes of Pavitra Srinivasan's translations and blithely assumed that all other volumes would also be available. Only upon finishing the first two did I realize that Pavitra was still working on the third volume. I began searching all over for the other three volumes and quickly stumbled upon Indra Nelameggam's translation - the first part of third volume - available freely on the internet. I downloaded it to my kindle and read it. My appreciation of Pavitra's nuanced translation grew thousand fold upon reading Indra's underwhelming work. Sometimes, when translating works pertaining to a particular period in history set in a geography known for its linguistic achievements, a language with immense historical signficance, it is best to leave some form of the original words as they were, not only to retain the flavor of the original work but also to allow the user to get into the book's atmosphere. At the sametime, some amount of sensitivity is called for. Calling Thevarams as Psalms is a ridiculous way of translating. There were more such jarring examples, but I won't get into those. Suffice to say that I could not go any further than that first part and did not have the heart to go for any more freely available translations. Then I came across CV Karthik Narayanan's translation on Kindle. I started again at the first part of Volume 3 and ploughed on. The going was much better with CVKN's pen. His translation was far more balanced and mature. Somehow, I am still partial to Pavitra's translations and will come back to those when they are available.
Now coming to the 5 volumes, they are "First floods", "The cyclone", "The killer sword", "The crown" and finally "The pinnacle of Sacrifice". Of all the books, I found the first one the most satisfying. It brought back fond childhood memories of reading Chandamama stories and such. It laid the foundation stone for my interest in the series, that did not waver much after reading subsequent books.
Kalki Krishnamurthy is adept at portraying human emotions, the frailities of human nature, internal conflicts and the problems they create at one level, and the political strife, the majesty of great warriors, the intelligence and survival instincts of those holding important positions in great empires at another level. Also, his books contain some wonderfully independent and intelligent women - in fact, the key character that drives the narrative towards the doomsday that every reader would pray not happen, is an extraordinarily beautiful woman that does not have historical backing but only Kalki's fertile imagination to thank for her existence. The hero is not always right, he does not always win, he is beset with self doubt and the brave warrior he is, he quavers at times when faced with insurmountable odds. Fate, that propels all lives forward, with nary a care of any individual's comfort is shown as it should be - the all powerful and uncontrollable thing that shapes lives of people and kingdoms. The intrigues and people caught in the web, their helplessness, the exaperation of people trying to do good, all these are captured very well.
I have become a big fan of Kalki's works. Thinking of picking up his other translations soon.
PS: Realized later that this post would not be complete without heartfelt thanks to pustaka team (http://pustaka.co.in), their timely publication of Book 5 Volume 2 ensured that I got the book soon after I finished Volume 1.
The mighty Raja Raja Chozhan
Depicted so well by Kalki's pen
In a work you could read again n again
That goes by the name Ponniyin Selvan
Ponnyin Selvan - completed
I picked up Ponniyin Selvan on a whim. Following my interest in historical fiction, Kindle showed Ponniyin Selvan on my recommendation list. I knew it was a 5 volume set and a significant investment of time. The fact that the first two books were available on Kindle Unlimited pushed me towards it - and Pavitra Srinivasan's translation, a few pages in, ignited my interest immensely. Only later after reading other translations did I realize how wonderfully she has preserved what I perceive as the original tone of Kalki's work. The original work was serialized in a magazine and I, to some extent, experienced reading the book in a serialized form owing to the incomplete checks I did prior to embarking on the project. I only saw 2 volumes of Pavitra Srinivasan's translations and blithely assumed that all other volumes would also be available. Only upon finishing the first two did I realize that Pavitra was still working on the third volume. I began searching all over for the other three volumes and quickly stumbled upon Indra Nelameggam's translation - the first part of third volume - available freely on the internet. I downloaded it to my kindle and read it. My appreciation of Pavitra's nuanced translation grew thousand fold upon reading Indra's underwhelming work. Sometimes, when translating works pertaining to a particular period in history set in a geography known for its linguistic achievements, a language with immense historical signficance, it is best to leave some form of the original words as they were, not only to retain the flavor of the original work but also to allow the user to get into the book's atmosphere. At the sametime, some amount of sensitivity is called for. Calling Thevarams as Psalms is a ridiculous way of translating. There were more such jarring examples, but I won't get into those. Suffice to say that I could not go any further than that first part and did not have the heart to go for any more freely available translations. Then I came across CV Karthik Narayanan's translation on Kindle. I started again at the first part of Volume 3 and ploughed on. The going was much better with CVKN's pen. His translation was far more balanced and mature. Somehow, I am still partial to Pavitra's translations and will come back to those when they are available.
Now coming to the 5 volumes, they are "First floods", "The cyclone", "The killer sword", "The crown" and finally "The pinnacle of Sacrifice". Of all the books, I found the first one the most satisfying. It brought back fond childhood memories of reading Chandamama stories and such. It laid the foundation stone for my interest in the series, that did not waver much after reading subsequent books.
Kalki Krishnamurthy is adept at portraying human emotions, the frailities of human nature, internal conflicts and the problems they create at one level, and the political strife, the majesty of great warriors, the intelligence and survival instincts of those holding important positions in great empires at another level. Also, his books contain some wonderfully independent and intelligent women - in fact, the key character that drives the narrative towards the doomsday that every reader would pray not happen, is an extraordinarily beautiful woman that does not have historical backing but only Kalki's fertile imagination to thank for her existence. The hero is not always right, he does not always win, he is beset with self doubt and the brave warrior he is, he quavers at times when faced with insurmountable odds. Fate, that propels all lives forward, with nary a care of any individual's comfort is shown as it should be - the all powerful and uncontrollable thing that shapes lives of people and kingdoms. The intrigues and people caught in the web, their helplessness, the exaperation of people trying to do good, all these are captured very well.
I have become a big fan of Kalki's works. Thinking of picking up his other translations soon.
PS: Realized later that this post would not be complete without heartfelt thanks to pustaka team (http://pustaka.co.in), their timely publication of Book 5 Volume 2 ensured that I got the book soon after I finished Volume 1.
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