Stirring up the Hornet's Nest - 2

Finally I prevailed over my laziness to continue my Blog on SS…
With a lot being said in my previous blog, I’ve decided to hit the bull’s eye right away

Why is Sivakami less impressive?
She is an ace Bharathanatyam dancer in the pallava kingdom. She is the most beautiful women. She is adored by the people of her country for her ability to tie them up with her Abhinayams. More than everything, she is the lady love of prince Narasimhavarman alias Mamallan. As per kalki, she is the primary reason behind the battle of Badami. With all that being said, she is obviously the heroine of the story as the title indicates.

Yet, to me, she is not impressive. She is very unstable. Probably that’s the way the character has to be… to trigger all those events that followed up. She is not so wise. Short tempered.. Emotionally wobbling… At no point in the novel she has completely trusted the prince of the land.
She feels insecure throughout the story. It’s an understandable behavior during the initial stages of the story as she is too young but even during the climax of the story she is precarious. By then she should have got matured.
I never felt empathetic towards this character during my journey across the pages. The romance between her and Mamallan is another disaster. It wasn’t cute anywhere. Yes! A romance portrayed without trust is definitely a disaster.

Narasimhavarman - A sore loser?

For people who don’t know what kind of a person Narasimhavarman is, there wouldn’t be a problem in accepting his characterization. Projected as a short tempered, less decisive, ruthless, stupid romantic hero who is even ready to let go his country and it’s people for a woman, the character fails to captivate me. Especially when he yells @ Paranjothi in the climax I hated the characterization to the core.

Now let me tell you who the real Narasimhavarman is….One of the greatest warrior that Bharat has ever seen. One of those 6 notable kings who never lost on the battle field. The ruler who got rid of religious savages called Kabalihaas in thamizhagam.
Being a great architect, he is a sculptor himself. The architectural epitomes on the shore of Mamallapuram still echo this ruler's name. Above all, he is a great war strategist and administrator. A smart, alluring, caring ruler he is. Adored as the greatest emperor of Pallava dynasty, his era is referred to as the golden age of Pallava Rule. The Mei Kirthis written during his period and later reveal all these.

But I should sincerely thank Kalki for projecting King Mahendravarman as such, without ruining his glory for the sake of a love saga.

Amidst imperfect characterization, the narration never induces a feel that the lovers should unite. It failed to create the anxiety and curiousness amongst readers in this regard.

There are logical questions too…
Why would Sivakami believe in Naganandhi till the climax? After all she knew from the Chakravarthi himself that he attempted to kill Mamallan, her love interest. She also understood that the deceptive Buddhist monk is in love with her and he does anything to win her hand. (indulging in cruel acts throughout)
Probably Sivakami didn’t believe in Mahendra as he was against her love for Mamallan. Also she had a soft corner for Naganandhi as he saved her father when they were caught by the Chalukyan soldiers. Fine! Didn’t she believe in the most trusted and eminent spy Gundodharan too?
Even before the climax, Naganandhi tells her that he would return as a king from Ajanta to marry her. Her reaction here is hilarious. Projected as a bold girl who saved innocent women from Pulikesi, a daring girl who sang and danced for a song written criticizing the Chakravarthi, in his very presence, she didn’t even react to the word of the monk when he proposed her despite knowing her affair with Mamallan.

Probably she is now numb and dejected. After all it’s nine years since she had been in the royal Vathabi prison. Yet not convincing.

Why didn’t Naganadhi reveal that Mamallan is already married? It gives him a chance to induce hatred towards Mamallan in Sivakami’s heart. Later he could’ve won her heart displaying his loyalty.
Probably he thought it would trigger Sivakami to pursue life menacing acts. Again not so convincing. The all powerful Budhist monk can easily safeguard Sivakami from such acts.
The climax was so dramatic with the unnecessary deaths of the royal chariot rider Kannabiran and royal spy Gundodharan.

Also throughout the story Kalki couldn’t maintain the suspense as it was with PS. On the very introduction of VajraBahu the readers could easily predict that he is none other than the Chakravarthi himself. There are many more such instances. And again the revelation of Vajrabahu as Chakravarthi comes at an insignificant point.

Vathabi thaganam, which for me was the most expected part of the novel, the climax, Kalki couldn’t create the magical feel. Probabaly not much research went into the warfare and strategy when he wrote it. I should definitely give it to Sandilyan in this regard. He was just amazing in explaining the nuances of wars, arts, architecture and romance.

To conclude:
For those who have read Ponniyin selvan before SS, it would be a rank below. Undoubtedly SS remains one of the greatest novels of 20th century just for the effort, innovation and the narrative style. If you don’t get too much into history and accept Sivakami as a normal girl bounded and driven by feminine emotions, the story can be appreciated. Also shed all your respect for Mamallan. Look at him as Sivakami’s lover and Sivakami's lover only :-) You can digest the novel peacefully.

After all I’ve fallen in love for more than 1000 times now with Ms. Nandhini :-)
I don’t even want to befriend Sivakami ;-)

Kalki definitely is one of those great writers of all time. But for him SS is definitely not the Magnum opus.

Probably for Kalki too, it’s just another book! :-)

But I recommend literary lovers to go through this novel and form their own perceptions. It’s definitely one of it’s kind and can be completely enjoyed for the narrative and style and few historical facts. All you have to do is shed your prejudice on Mamallan as a colossal emperor and Sivakami as Ms. Perfect beautiful before taking it up for a study. Enjoy reading SS!