Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Kasparov or Carlsen

 

Who is your favorite player?

Mine is Pragg. Yes. I don't lie.

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Is Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy a great book ?


When I think of written thoughts I like Anton Chekov the most. Short stories of Tagore are great. They are great authors. 
But what about Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy?

Kalki wrote the story in 1950s in a magazine Kalki as a weekly story continued for 5 years.  It was quite popular among general public.  

I feel the focus of Kalki is an amazing feat. He does not write about achievement of Raja raja chola or others. But showcases a small period of Chola empire.  

Mani Ratnam says that Ponniyin Selvan story is meant to be interpreted as suited to its reader. Part 4 and Part 5 of Ponniyin Selvan are very confusing to me. It might have been interesting in 1950s as a weekly.  But in novel form it is difficult to have a clear image in mind from the writing. I flipped through pages in Kindle and later listened to audio version of Part 4 and Part 5.

Kalki had a great responsibility.  He had to tell the history.  He had to show a great empire in a way that people are proud of.  At the same time he did not want to belittle the other major kingdoms. 

So all in all Ponniyin Selvan is an interesting story.  It remains to be seen how Mani Ratnam and his team present the rest of the story as a cinema.  I am interested to see Ponniyin Selvan 2. What about you?

This is interesting.  Oomai (mute) photo from Google images.  Rajaji and Kalki.