<p>Watching movies has never been a priority in my life. This does not mean that I have not watched them at all. I must have tucked in two score of them over the decades. Reading has been my forte. I devour them hungrily all the time. Yet, like Oliver Twist, I am always craving for "more". So I get gifts of books, old and new, from time to time from one and all on my radar. </p>.<p>They are satisfied to know that I had a good read; nothing more, nothing less, is said about the written word. </p>.<p>All that changed in the last month. A great blockbuster capturing the history of the Deccan plateau was in the offing. The contents of the movie were based on a book series. The gargantuan proportions of the story, which served the reading interests of an earlier generation, suddenly gained prominence amongst the millennials, middle aged and the old alike. Everyone wanted to know what the story was about. </p>.<p>The social media and search engines could hardly cater to their curiosity. The cast was mind-boggling. Summaries, short videos, audio books, translations, and abridged versions of the classic started doing the rounds. Some optimists even bought the original version of the series, hoping to read the same sometime down the line. </p>.<p>Somewhere along the line, they remembered yours truly and were very glad to know that I had read every word of the magnum opus two decades ago. Questions started seeping in. Initially, I answered from memory. Then the questions increased, started pouring in. I skimmed through the well-thumbed pages to refresh my recollection. Some basic aspects of the volumes, like the story line, family tree, adjunct characters, and the pronunciation of some names and places, gained the highest precedence in our communications. The amateurs of the art sent me audio, visual, and printed forms of news clips for clarification. </p>.<p>Finally, <span class="italic"><em>Ponniyin Selvan</em></span> was released and more discussions followed. Everyone became curious about the aftermath. This overwhelming experience proved that any earnest endeavour will have an evergreen ripple effect, even after a millennium. The struggle and the effort of the Cholas to establish themselves effectively and aesthetically has been recorded variously. However, when it was captured in lucid prose with élan and imagination by Amarar Kalki, the author of the magnum opus <span class="italic"><em>Ponniyin Selvan,</em></span> in his meandering style, it just proved that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. The eagerness of our contemporaries to appreciate the story in its cinematic form by doing enough homework on the subject just goes on to show that a thing of beauty is a joy forever!</p>
<p>Watching movies has never been a priority in my life. This does not mean that I have not watched them at all. I must have tucked in two score of them over the decades. Reading has been my forte. I devour them hungrily all the time. Yet, like Oliver Twist, I am always craving for "more". So I get gifts of books, old and new, from time to time from one and all on my radar. </p>.<p>They are satisfied to know that I had a good read; nothing more, nothing less, is said about the written word. </p>.<p>All that changed in the last month. A great blockbuster capturing the history of the Deccan plateau was in the offing. The contents of the movie were based on a book series. The gargantuan proportions of the story, which served the reading interests of an earlier generation, suddenly gained prominence amongst the millennials, middle aged and the old alike. Everyone wanted to know what the story was about. </p>.<p>The social media and search engines could hardly cater to their curiosity. The cast was mind-boggling. Summaries, short videos, audio books, translations, and abridged versions of the classic started doing the rounds. Some optimists even bought the original version of the series, hoping to read the same sometime down the line. </p>.<p>Somewhere along the line, they remembered yours truly and were very glad to know that I had read every word of the magnum opus two decades ago. Questions started seeping in. Initially, I answered from memory. Then the questions increased, started pouring in. I skimmed through the well-thumbed pages to refresh my recollection. Some basic aspects of the volumes, like the story line, family tree, adjunct characters, and the pronunciation of some names and places, gained the highest precedence in our communications. The amateurs of the art sent me audio, visual, and printed forms of news clips for clarification. </p>.<p>Finally, <span class="italic"><em>Ponniyin Selvan</em></span> was released and more discussions followed. Everyone became curious about the aftermath. This overwhelming experience proved that any earnest endeavour will have an evergreen ripple effect, even after a millennium. The struggle and the effort of the Cholas to establish themselves effectively and aesthetically has been recorded variously. However, when it was captured in lucid prose with élan and imagination by Amarar Kalki, the author of the magnum opus <span class="italic"><em>Ponniyin Selvan,</em></span> in his meandering style, it just proved that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. The eagerness of our contemporaries to appreciate the story in its cinematic form by doing enough homework on the subject just goes on to show that a thing of beauty is a joy forever!</p>