Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan (2022) reopened the pages of history for a pan-India audience. When author Nandini Krishnan sat down to translate Kalki’s original text into English, she knew she was creating her own magnum opus.
Ponniyin Selvan Book 1 First Flood, which released on April 24, begins with Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, scion of the Vaanar clan, travelling across the Chola land to hand over a secret message from Aditha Karikalan, the crown prince of Chola empire.
Krishnan tried reading the series in Tamil when she finished school, but, back then, it was too complex for her. In the 2010s, she attended a dramatic reading of the novel by Kalki’s granddaughter Gowri Ramnarayan and her voice and words enchanted her; Krishnan wanted to bring it to the world.
Krishnan doesn’t fear losing Ponniyin Selvan in translation but she feels the need to translate beautiful writings into English in the most lyrical ways. “So many great writers in Tamil and Urdu are lost to the world because very few are translated. No one knows of Subramania Bharati or Ashokamitran outside Tamil Nadu. Everyone knows Manto, but no one seems to have heard of Sajjad Haider Yaldram, the pioneer of short story in Urdu,” said Krishnan.
Krishnan’s translation was released a year after the release of the film, Ponniyin Selvan: I, and closer to the release of Ponniyin Selvan: II (PS-2). However, she felt the film is not likely to impact the book in any negative way. “I would treat Mani Ratnam’s work as a complement to the book; perhaps an ode. Films break the north-south divide. If [the film series] Baahubali had been based on a novel, it would have become a bestseller now,” she said.
Krishnan’s research was intense. “Kalki himself did immense research and took quotes from Sangam era poems, which I had to translate. Finding the right word is a huge responsibility. Each chapter takes about a week to write a first draft of, and then I did several rewrites over two-three days,” she said.
Published by Eka, an imprint of Westland Books, First Flood is the first in the 10-volume translated series of Ponniyin Selvan.
“Kalki wrote many works of historical fiction a century ago. So, this is not exactly a classical Tamil text. But his works, particularly Parthiban Kanavu and Sivagamiyin Sabatham, would be lovely on screen,” said Krishnan.
According to Krishnan, the five great epics of Tamil literature, known collectively as the Aimperumkappiyam (a treasure trove of poetry), would make for good translations and onscreen projects. “It could be interesting to see how a modern director handles it, at a time when issues such as infidelity and underage sex, and the idea of the courtesan and state authoritarianism will provoke a far more intense discussion than they did decades ago,” said Krishnan.
PONNIYIN SELVAN BOOK 1 FIRST FLOOD
Author: Kalki
Translation: Nandini Krishnan
Published by Eka
price: Rs399; pages: 248