Ponniyin Selvan and the pleasure of reading non-ebooks

Ponniyin Selvan (The son of Ponni) is a historic fiction novel created around King Raja Raja Chola, one of the most prominent and arguably the greatest kings of South India (circa 1000 AD) by R Krishnamurthi (aka Kalki), a very well known author/publisher/freedom fighter. The novel is considered a masterpiece and is an immense pleasure to read, all 1000 and odd pages of it.

Kalki (middle) shown in a depiction with the key characters of the novel

Krishnamurthi was also known for his weekly magazine Kalki that he started in 1941, which ended up becoming his nickname as well. One of the huge selling points of the magazine was in fact, his novels that were published as a continuing story that would last for a few years. The magazine is still keeping that format in tact, even after seven decades in print.

One big pastime for subscribers of the magazine was to rip the pages containing the story to make the whole novel. This was before even buying books were a common occurrence. My grandfather had such a compilation of the story when it was published around 1970. As a kid, I read the story multiple times (all 1000 and odd pages) during my summer vacations at his house, mostly on the front porch on idyllic summer afternoons. Such was the simplicity of Kalki's writing that even a teen like me could easily understand such a complex story. The novel was so powerful that after I finished reading it, I would still be stuck in the eleventh century for a few days, and even wish that I were born then!

What was equally fun for me was not just the story itself but all the additional snippets that were captured as part of the compilation - tidbits, jokes, even advertisements from 30 years back - it was kind of Norman Rockwellesque in some sense in that they were temporal snapshots and took me back in time, most appropriate given I was reading a period novel. The faded and aged look of the pages added to the authenticity. To make things sweeter, the print was also accompanied by the original drawings of Maniam, Kalki's favorite artist, which were exquisite.

I could never bring myself to read the book in a published novel form, even though the story was the same. Somehow, the charm of reading that battered compilation of magazine articles was more authentic than reading a crisp, neatly printed novel, even if it had all other elements. I missed the ads, the 70s humor of rettaival rangudu, an impish boy and his antics scattered around in some of the pages, and occasional and completely outdated "Did you know" articles that were amusing.

As we progress in the publishing media and try to replace a mechanism that has stood strong for 400 odd years by e-books, I wonder if we will lose some of that authenticity and the ability of books to transfer us back in time not just by words, but also by the look and feel. After all, emotions are triggered by the senses and not just by the mind alone. The same novel in an e-book feels even more fake to me and I don't feel the attachment I felt when I read those bound pages. Somehow our books are becoming less personal and more mechanical - and I don't know if it's such a good idea.

I would love to have an e-reader for a host of other reasons (for reading impersonal manuals, for example), but I feel that a printed book still has its rightful place - to cozy up to in bed, while on a porch, on a sandy beach, and for so many other places - it just feels right.