Sumeetha Manikandan's Blog, page 12

Chapter 4: In the Midnight

After a simple dinner at Poonguzhali’s house, Vandiya Devan sought her father’s help to go to Eelangai. However Thyaga Vidakaraiyar expressed his regrets. “Once there were many boats banked in this beach but now they all have gone to Sethu Karai to help our army cross the sea to Eelangai. I own two boats and my son has taken two men to Eelangai and I do not know when he will return. What do I do?”
“Who were those men? Your daughter said that they seemed strange.”
“Yes. They were strange and I d...

Chapter 3 – A Girl’s Madness

The sky was dotted with thousands of twinkling stars. A lovely half moon rose up on the sky near the sea’s horizon as moon beams danced on the sea waves. It was a beautiful sight worthy enough for a poet to describe. Sadly for Vandiya Devan there were mundane things to do, like washing off the mud.
“Why are you standing? Go and wash the mud. I have to go home or else my anni will not give me any food tonight.”
“Is the sea very deep here?” he asked timidly.
“I haven’t seen a faint-hearted soldier...

Chapter 2 – The Quicksand

Vandiya Devan chased the girl through the thick forest. Nimble and quick, she skirted through trees, pits and mounds and would vanish from his line of sight for a while and just when he was ready to give up she would appear again. Vandiya Devan was reminded of the magical deer that Lord Rama had to chase in Pachavati. My god! This girl is not a magical deer but she has all the swiftness and the grace of a deer. And just as he was thinking about her, he also wondered why he was chasing her in...

Volume 2 - The Storm - Chapter 1 - Poonguzhali

With the sea waves weaving in and out of the beach, the dusky evening was peaceful in Kodi Karai. The sky was dotted with birds flying back home across the pristine white sands of the soft beach. The air seemed still in the woods near the beach and the sun was fast sinking behind a veil of clouds.
A small boat made its way towards the shore. A young woman was plying the oars of this boat and she reminds us of Senthan Amuthan’s description of his uncle’s daughter Poonguzhali. Yes. She is indee...

Volume 1 - New Floods - The story so far...

With Karikalan's confession, the first part of Ponniyin Selvan is completed. I would like to thank all my readers and most importantly my friend Venketesh Ramakrishnan (Author of Kaveri Maindan - Sequel to Ponniyin Selvan) for his support and encouragement that allowed me to restart this translation effort.





The story so far...
A thousand years ago, a young soldier called Vandiya Devan was traveling towards the Chola Kingdom bearing important messages for King Sundara Chola and Princess Kundavai...

Chapter 57: Maya Mohini

Right from the time, when Aditya Karikalan had started his story, Parthibendran had been listening to him without much sympathy. But when his friend held his heart, he could truly experience his pain and his eyes grew moist.
“My Prince! I never knew that one can undergo so much sorrow and pain from a mere woman.  I never realized the agony that your heart must have felt on your coronation ceremony. I remember feeling surprised to see you downcast and upset. We tried to make merry and chee...

Chapter 56 – In the Anthapuram

Hundreds of years ago, King Mahendra Pallava had built small mandapams all over his kingdom and tasked royal bards to regale his citizens with stories from Mahabharatam. Thanks to the influence of Bhudhism and Jainism in these parts, many people had embraced peace and passivity in their life. Anticipating an imminent Chalukya attack, the King wanted to remind people of the glories of war and victory and he erected many small mandapams all through his kingdom to make story tellers to recite Ma...

Chapter 55 – Nandini’s Lover

“I was twelve years old, when I met Nandini for the first time. We were in Pazhaiarai then and I was playing with my sister and brother near the lake. We heard our Periya PattiSembiyanmadevi calling us. We went to the kodi veedu and told her about how we went boating on the lake. She was not alone. There were three other people along with her and one of them was a girl who was about my age. Other two people were her parents. When we entered, they stopped talking and looked at us. I still reme...

Chapter 54 – The Venom of a Woman

Aditya Karikalan
One of the old palaces of Pallava Kings was readied for the Crown Prince and his retinue. That night, Malaimaan left the palace to hear the story of Aravan – the son of Arjuna at the Mahendra Mandapam. After a sumptuous dinner, Karikalan and Parthibendran, sat in the terrace of the palace watching the beach and the harbour. They could hear the temple bells clanging along with the continuous roar of the sea waves.
“Look at thatha! He has gone to listen to the story of Aravan de...

Chapter 53 – Malaimaan’s Wrath

When Karikalan heard Malaimaan’s words, he did not faint away in shock but he was shaken. Even Parthibendran fell silent and shocked. Silence reigned over the small mandapam for a while.
Karikalan looked at his grandfather and said, “Thatha! Even I heard the rumours but I thought they were baseless. Are you sure about this? Do you have proof? Does he have a claim at all? Is it possible?”
“It is possible. And Madhuranthakan has a better claim to the throne than your father. It was his father, K...