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nspwriteups · 11 months

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An Oath of Feelings - Final part

pic credit: @reeeereeeereeereee

Arulmozhi made his way through the long corridor. He swore he saw Vanathi just a minute ago , her jasmine-decorated long hair fluttering in the soft breeze, her voice echoing as she laughed at a joke of one of her Sakhis. Goodness! when did he became attuned to her so much? Now he understood what his Anna was saying about love- it was sweeter than honey, addicting than any intoxicant in the world and it strengthens one's resolve, not weaken it. He thought of all this while he stood in the empty corridor, wondering how his Anna was able to survive all those years not able to see Nandini when he himself was feeling morose after not seeing the stealer of his heart for a day. Maybe he should talk with Vanthiyathevan? No, he dismissed that line of thought immediately. There was no limit to how much Kundavai teased him after the incident the other night about his brave-but-utterly reckless attempt at window jumping. And how dare Vanthiyathevan join in when he was the one who suggested the idea in the first place? No, he isn't going anywhere near those two. He will prove his love on his own. Thus deciding, he retraced his steps back to his chambers.

Once his footsteps started to fade away, Vanathi came out of her hiding place behind the pillar and gazed at the retreating figure. Maybe she was taking this a bit far? Should she talk to him? But what result would that give? He may say something sweet and she will fall for it and then he would go back to ignoring her again. What she wished, what she craved was for him to show his feelings for her, feelings that her Akka claim exists. Many a time she has seen Vanthiyathevan kissing the back of Kundavai's hand or whispering in her ear or simply gazing at her when she was preoccupied by some other task. He was indifferent to the fact that they were other people watching or making remarks about them. How many times has she imagined her Yaanai pagan gazing at her so, of him whispering sweet nothings in her ear or him standing close to her in public so that everyone will know they belong to and with each other. She wondered if all these fantasies will come true or remain the same. Her train of thoughts was broken by one of her Sakhis.

"Vanathi, why didn't you tell us you were playing hide-and-seek with Ponniyin Selvan?" her sakhi taunted her.

"Oh be quiet!" Vanathi whispered in annoyance before walking off.

--------------------------------------------

Vanathi has never really been jealous of her Kundavai Akka, in fact she greatly admired her Uyir Thozi's intelligence and courage. But at this moment, when she was sitting with her in her chamber, preparing for the evening aarti, she realised she was envious of Kundavai - not of her reasoning and understanding but of her success at a fruitful relationship. Ever since they had been acquainted with a certain Vana clan prince, she had seen a budding affection forming between the two. She didn't exactly knew when it became solidified but once she heard him call her Akka an 'Apsaras' and saw Kundavai's face turn as red as kumkum and she knew - this was not a mere flirting. She heard a genuineness in his voice, the same genuineness she heard when he earlier declared " Uyir ungalodayathu Devi". She thought of all this when she kept glancing at Kundavai, who was humming while arranging the Pooja thali. Just then a servant came in " Ilaiya Piratti, Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan is seeking permission to enter" .

"Let him in " Kundavai said excitedly

"Speak of the devil and the devil is here" mused Vanathi. She was quite fond of the Vana Kula Prince and already considered him as a brother but she was still disappointed that he didn't attempt to give some good advice to Ponniyin Selvan despite their close friendship.

Vanthiyathevan came in " How are you this evening, ladies?" He asked . His sense of formality was often times confusing. In public, he resorted to formal titles such as 'Ilaiya Piratti' and 'Kodumbalur Ilavarasi ' but in private he called her as 'Devi' or even 'Maya Kannan' while he reserved the sweetest of nicknames for his lady love.

"Vanthiyar, do you have any news for us?" Kundavai asked

"Devi, things are as you know. Sendhan Amudhan will reach Thanjai in 2 days time" Vanthiyathevan replied

Vanathi was confused. What? Sendhan Amudhan is coming? But why? Suddenly she remembered Arulmozhi's oath of bestowing the crown. Surely he didn't say it seriously? Surely he only said it to spite her?

"And Samudrakumari will also be joining him. They decided to have the wedding ceremony the day after they arrive. So much preparations yet to be made" Vanathi heard Vanthiyathevan continuing his narration and Kundavai nodding along. Marriage? What marriage? She realised she said this thought aloud as both faces turned towards her.

" Yes, Maya Kanna. Perhaps you missed out on the news. Ilavarase wasn't joking when he said he wished to hand over the crown to Sendhan Amudhan. He presented the matter with the emperor and he too agreed that this was a rightful decision"

"And what about Samudrakumari?"

"Ah that. Amudhan has always loved Poonguzhali and although she was reluctant at first, as she doubted the genuineness of his feelings she later returned his feelings and has now accepted his hand in marriage. I am not bragging but I may have had a hand in uniting the couple." Vanthiyathevan said with a smirk and earned a pinch in the arm from Kundavai for 'going off topic'.

Vanathi was already in her world of overthinking. So, Ponniyin Selvan wasn't in love with Poonguzhali? Then why did he admit having that conversation with Kundavai Akka? Was there any existent feelings for her in his mind as Kundavai Akka claimed? Now she decided she have to talk to him. At least before she leaves for Kodumbalur. With these thoughts in mind, she stood up.

"Kanne, where are you going?" Kundavai asked

"Akka, I'm just going to meet someone. I'll be right back" Vanathi hoped she was being discreet enough but Kundavai managed to see through it.

"No, you can meet anyone you want after the pooja. Now go, time is ticking "

"Yes Akka" Vanthiyathevan and Kundavai watched a disheartened Vanathi leaving the chamber.

"Ennavale, as much as I like your idea I'm afraid it is lacking action" Vanthiyathevan turned to his lover with a mischievous smile.

"I know my plan doesn't involve tree-climbing or window-jumping like you'd wish but it is effective. It's exactly like you said - they want to come closer. We are just giving them the necessary push" Kundavai said calmly.

---------------------------------------

Vanathi was hyper-focused on her aarti plate as she, along with Kundavai's other companions, made their way back from the temple. All through the Pooja, she prayed for happiness for all and a ray of clarity on her otherwise chaotic life. She was wondering when she would get the answers to all her questions (even Kundavai Akka was not with her, making some excuse after the Pooja that she didn't even pay attention to) .

"Vanathi, are you done playing hide and seek with Ponniyin Selvan?" One of Kundavai's companion started her teasing.

"Aren't you leaving for Kodumbalur anyway? Don't worry , I don't think Ponniyin Selvan would come to find you since all of us would be here to take care of him" another companion chimed in

They had reached the gardens when Vanathi decided to retaliate.

" What is all this talk? Keep your Ponniyin Selvan with you. He wasn't mine in the first place" She said, with her back to them, determined not to show them the sadness in her face.

"I beg to differ Devi"

All of them turned towards the source of the voice and found the object of their conversation standing in front of them.

"You are exceptionally good at hiding Ilavarasi" Arulmozhi said with a triumphant smile, " But now, since I have found you may I have a word with you"

He led her a safe distance away, so that her companions can only watch them and not eavesdrop on them.

" Akka told me I can find you here"

"I wanted to talk to you, Ponniyin Selvare about Poonguzhali..."

He sighed and said " I don't blame you for misunderstanding Vanathi. It is true that once I had a conversation with Akka about my then feelings for Poonguzhali but then I also asked you whether you would believe me if I said my feelings have changed over the months... Because that is what happened"

"What do you mean?"

"I was always under the impression that what you sought after was the throne and Poonguzhali always thought Amudhan's feelings will fade away someday. Then, Vanthiyathevan once asked if we have ever got to know you both as a person and to that we were answerless. So we decided to get to know you both better before making a final decision, just so we wouldn't feel guilty afterwards. Little did we knew fate had other plans"

Vanathi stared at him wondering about the direction of his narration. " In the few months that I got to know you I learned to appreciate your presence and adore your personality which made me confused because I was unfamiliar to this sensation"

"what sensation, Aiyya?"

"I understood you were insecure of the prospective marriage to me, and I wanted to erase that insecurity. I couldn't understand that feeling so I stayed in denial for weeks"

He looked at her then "I met with Poonguzhali again and she admitted she also started to develop an affection for Amudhan's sincerity. We still cared and respected each other but the feelings we began to develop for you two felt..stronger. Finally it was Vanthiyathevan who advised us to follow our heart and that's what we did"

"So you like me?" Vanathi asked. She was hoping this wouldn't be any of her usual dream. Her Yaanai Pagan was actually declaring what she wanted to hear all this time. "Better than that" Arulmozhi said, gazing lovingly at her " Nan unnai katalikkiren"

Saying this, he reached out and touched her hand. The sudden movement caused Vanathi to lose balance and the aarti plate to tumble down.

"Oh Lord, she has dropped the aarti plate. How inauspicious!" One of the onlookers commented.

"No, look closely I think the wick is still burning, so it's not inauspicious " another replied.

Vanathi felt Arulmozhi's hand circle her waist and pull her close to his chest. She gasped and put both her arms round his neck.

"Don't faint on me again Vanathi" He said almost breathlessly, "You made me so worried the last time"

"Ponniyin Selvare, what are you doing? Everyone is watching" Vanathi said, blushing but making no attempt in getting out his hold.

" Let them watch" Arulmozhi said with a grin, quickly glancing at the group of girls standing at a distance away, looking awe-struck.

"If you still wish to go to Kodumbalur, then let me come with you. Not as Ilavarase Arulmozhi Varman but as your varunkala kanavan. I respect your oath and proud of your determination" he continued and smiled wholeheartedly when Vanathi nodded. " I finally understood what Vanthiyathevan said . Sometimes love can be shown better through actions"

"What do you mean?" Vanathi cocked her head to the side and looked at him with confusion.

Arulmozhi simply gave her a smirk and tightened his arms around her, lifting her up and twirling her. Her squealing mixed with his laughter and the loud gasps from the onlookers. Well,not all onlookers. Kundavai and Vanthiyathevan watched the happy couple from the balcony.

"Who knew my Thambi was such a romantic?" Kundavai remarked with a short laugh

" Why Devi? Do you me to twirl you like that? " Vanthiyathevan asked with a wide grin and Kundavai smacked him in the arm.

"Noo" She said playfully "maybe another time?" She smiled sheepishly when Vanthiyathevan raised his eyebrows.

The End

A/N: Me dropping a long af fic once in a while. You can clearly see how much I was influenced by the Veera Raja Veera full video song...come, let's rant in the comment section

@ramcharanobsessed @dumdaradumdaradum @vibishalakshman @thatacademic @hollogramhallucination @kovaipaavai @rang-lo . @willkatfanfromasia @thelekhikawrites @thegleamingmoon @deafeningflowercat @yehsahihai @whippersnappersbookworm @itsfookingloosah @gemsmusings @chiyaanvikram @elvenladysakura . @matka-kulfi . @madatdisney @bumblebeeskywalker @vahnithedreamer @nkarti @dosai-maavu @utterlynotperfect @winter-birds @happy-bookworm @tumbledout @anabanana4115 @freeunknownwasteland @bhataktiatmacore @rapunzels-stuff @celestesinsight @mairablue @rationalelderberry @existenceiswhateven @arachneofthoughts

#ponniyin selvan #ponniyin selvan 2 #vanathi #arulmozhi #kundavai #vanthiyathevan #aditha karikalan #arulmozhi varman #nandini #vandiyadevan #vanmozhi #ps fanfiction #poniyin selvan fandom #fanfiction series

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harinishivaa · 11 months

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Vaazhkaiyin Niram

As promised, @yehsahihai and I are back, with the entire fic now. It is kind of long, so have fun?

********

Arulmozhi Varman was in a quandry.

He had been trying to get some time alone with Vanathi, and she had somehow, successfully avoided him at every single turn. Even his patience could end, it seemed like, for each time she avoided him, he felt another chip off the block he called his patience. Why was she avoiding him? He had not even teased her in a while…

Oh maybe that was it?

But… why would that make her avoid him? What had he done?

He knew the feelings he bore for her all too well. He also knew that he had been in denial far too long for her to not have noticed something amiss. What he did not expect was how far Vanathi was willing to go in her love for him.

It was mid-afternoon as Arulmozhi paced his akka’s rooms, with Samudra Kumari and akka watching him with a growing mixture of concern and amusement.

I mean, I just don’t understand. Why is she doing this? What is she trying to do?”

“Thambi even I don’t know and I almost always know what is in her heart.”

“Illavarase, maybe the Kodumbalur Illavarasi has been in the sun too much. That is why she is acting like this.”

“Samudra Kumari, this is no time for humor” came his akka’s sharp rebuke, making Poonguzhali raise her hands in surrender.

“Akka?” came the sweet voice of the maddening princess who had robbed him of all his sleep.

“Kanne? What is it?”

“Nothing akka. I couldn’t find you anywhere so I was wondering where you were.”

Kundavai suddenly had an idea, as she addressed Vanathi, asking her, “Kanne, just one question. If the one you love is in love with another, what would you do?”

Vanathi froze for a second before looking towards Arulmozhi who had not let his eyes wander away from her since she stepped in.

“Why akka, then I would do my best to ensure he won over the one he loves”

Arulmozhi physically felt the need to sit down, as she turned to leave, worrying that he would faint after hearing that. Really he had to stop picking up his kanmani’s habits. Holding his head in his hands, he bemoaned, “Akka, why is my wife like this?”

“You’re not married to her yet thambi!”

“AKKA IN MY HEAD I AM ALREADY MARRIED TO HER!”

He sighed, remembering the amusement on Samudra Kumari’s face and the knowing look his elder sister had gotten. That just reminded him of another incident, engineered by his darling.

Arulmozhi was excited, having seen his Vanathi walk towards him.

“Ponniyin Selvare,” her sweet voice, which was like nectar to him, sounded in his ears, filling his being.

“Kodumbalur Kula Vilakke,” he said, trying hard not to call her, my Kodumbalur Devadhai, instead.

“Selvare, Poonkuzhali is looking for you. She is waiting by the boat at the banks of Ponni Thai,” she said softly, a tinge of sadness in her eyes, something that did not escape him. What was wrong with his Vanathi? He wanted to cup her cheeks and peer into her eyes, reading through them so that he could first understand, and then wipe away her sadness. He wanted to bring that luminosity he so loved seeing in her eyes.

“Devi, are you okay?” he asked instead. Samudra Kumari could wait, Vanathi came first. She would understand- this was how she was with Amudhan.

“I am fine, Selvare, why do you ask?”

“It doesn’t seem so to me,” his eyes roved over her face, concerned.His hands itched to tilt her chin up, to look into her eyes and understand and solve all her problems. He noted the tiredness in her eyes, and he ached at the sight of it.

“No no Selvare, I am fine. But you must go, Poonkuzhali is waiting for you,” with a departing smile, she slipped away, and he blinked.

Why was his beloved running away again?

Sighing, he made his way to the banks of Kaveri to meet Samudra Kumari.

It had turned out that his kanmani had ensured that he and Samudra Kumari could be alone?

For what reason even, he had wondered then. Of course, she was his good friend… but she would much rather listen to Sendhan sing Thevarams, and he would prefer to be around Vanathi, even with his Akka present.

“You?” they had both exclaimed upon seeing each other.

“Illavarase what are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same, Samudra Kumari.”

“Illavarasi Vanathi.. She asked me if I would give her a ride in my boat.”

Arulmozhi frowned at that, trying to understand what his beloved had been thinking.

“But that doesn’t make sense. She told me you were waiting for me? To talk to me?”

“Talk to you? No Illavarase, I never said anything of the sort.”

Arulmozhi groaned at that, as he sat down on the river banks, head throbbing as he thought of Vanathi’s behaviour in the past few days. His illavarasi had almost continuously avoided looking at him, preferring to engage in conversation with his akka or any other lady in the palace rather than talk to him. There was a pit of anxiety in his stomach as he tried to understand what had happened to the playful, bubbling Vanathi he knew. It was slowly driving him crazy, to be able to see her but never talk to her, to exist in the same sphere as her and still feel like she was miles away from him. Even when she did speak to him it was almost completely formal and clipped, like she was trying to do her best to avoid prolonging their conversations. He had been living with an almost constant dull ache in his heart these days and it was frustrating him to no end that he couldn’t unravel this mystery.

“Oh… oh!”

Poonkuzhali’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked at her, confused as to why she looked both exasperated and endeared at once.

“Ilavarase, I think the Ilavarasi thinks you and I want to be together. It is clear she does not know of your overwhelming love for her.”

Arulmozhi let out another loud groan at that, tipping back fully to sprawl on the riverbanks, uncaring of the numerous small pebbles digging into his skin.

“Why is Vanathi like this? I’ve been trying so hard to express how I feel for her and yet she doesn’t understand. Every time she looks at me, her doe eyes are downcast and her honey like voice is subdued. What do I do to make her believe that I love her?”

“Perhaps Illavarase,” Poonguzhali began, in a matter-of-fact tone, “you could start by telling her all this instead of crying about it in front of Ponni thaaye?”

Since then, he had been trying to get her alone, but she still evaded him,and also continued her setting up attempts.

Arulmozhi was trying to get near Vanathi, wanting to stand near her for the poojai. He felt that her presence around him will keep him successful in gaining the blessings of Durgai Amma. But getting to her seemed to be getting more tiresome.

Luckily, he had spotted Samudra Kumari near her, and had sent a signal to her requesting her aid, which his doe eyed damsel had misinterpreted,and had artfully pushed Poonkuzhali next to him, instead of standing next to him herself.

How was he to confess if she would not listen?

Maybe he should shout it out in front of everyone?

Hmm maybe that’s what he would do… but what if his love got embarrassed? He could not do that to her… Ishvara, he was really sounding like Vanathi now. Love really made people stupid, he thought, unclear whether he meant himself or his beloved.

Which was exactly how he had found himself in his akka’s chambers as she had watched the whole scene at the poojai happen and immediately demanded answers.

“Thambi, what is going on?”, akka had asked, ever straight to the point. “First Vanathi loves you, then you don’t love her, then you like Samudra Kumari, then she likes Sendhan, then you love Vanathi, and now Vanathi is trying to get you and Samudra Kumari together? What are you all doing????”

Poonguzhali, who had until then been silent, said, “Ilaya Piratti, we think the Kodumbalur Illavarasi has had a misunderstanding. She believes that Ponniyin Selvan and I love each other, though I am not sure why. But since then she has been trying to get us together.”

“I am aware”, came Kundavai’s response to which his head shot up.

“What? How?”

“Because thambi, she approached me before the poojai, asking to speak with me alone. And then she went exonerating about how good of a woman Samudra Kumari was, and how she would make a worthy queen for you and how I should accept her and give you two my blessings. I have to admit, she almost convinced me.”

“I… WHAT?”

“Thambi, calm down. I was not convinced fully, because her love for you was visible, and so is yours for her.”

“Akka,” he said, burying his face in his hands. “What do I do?”

“Well, you have to tell her, thambi.”

“How do I do that when your best friend keeps avoiding me?”

Poonkuzhali sighed, standing up.

“Leave it to me.”

“Somehow that just made it worse”, he muttered under his breath as he watched her leave.

Poonkhuzhali really didn’t understand these royals at times. When it was so clear to everyone with eyes that the prince had eyes only for the kodumbalur Illavarasi, why was she the only one who couldn’t see it? She knew that her brief infatuation with him had been clear to many, but that was all it was; an infatuation that had worn off when she realsied her love for Sendhan. But this princess, had been steadfast in trying to push her and the prince together. How can one love so selflessly, she wondered. The princess was willing to sacrifice her love for Ponniyin Selvan because she thought it would make him happy. Those two were really made for each other, she thought.

She walked down the palace halls, trying to find the princes until she finally spotted her in the garden, sitting on a bench as she stared off into the distance. Taking a deep breath, khuzhali approached her.

“Illavarasi”, she said bowing to her, as the princess seemed to snap out of her reverie.

“Samudra Kumari! What brings you here?”

“Devi, I came to find you specifically,” said Poonkuzhali. “I wanted to ask for your thoughts, as Ilaya Piratti told me that you are fantastic at organizing any event.”

“It’s all Akka’s teaching, Kumari,” Vanathi smiled. “What can I help you with?”

Truly, thought Poonkhuzhali, she was the most gracious person she had ever met, apart from Ponniyin selvan. It just strengthened her resolve to bring them together.

“My engagement ceremony, Ilavarasi,” Poonkuzhali said, feeling bad when Vanathi’s face shrunk and eyebrows frowned.

“Of course, how can I help?”

Poonkuzhali gave Vanathi details, requesting her help for organizing it, and the Princess did not disappoint. She helped Poonkuzhali organize it in a matter of half an hour.

“Is there anything else I can help with, Kumari?” Vanathi asked softly.

“No, thank you Devi. Sendhan and I are very grateful to you.”

“Sendhan? You are getting engaged to Sendhan!?”

Poonkhuzhali bit her lips to keep from smiling as she said “Of course devi. Did Illavarase not tell you? I am going to marry Sendhan”

Vanathi felt as though the ground had been pulled out from under her feet, as she stared at Samudra Kumari trying to comprehend her words. She was going to marry Sendhan, which mean she was not in love with Ponniyin Selvan. Oh Ishvara, what had she done?

She had evoked the anger of her Prince by doing such, by setting him up with a woman whose heart was another’s? How will she face him? Maybe she should just avoid him?

Yes, that’s what she will do. She will avoid him.

Standing up abruptly she said, “I-I should go meet akka, samudra kumari. Excuse me” Saying so she ran off, determined to avoid the prince at all costs.

*****

How had Samudra Kumari’s confession not helped?

Vanathi was still avoiding him, extremely skillfully, which did impress him, as much as it exasperated him. He had tried to catch hold of her many times over the past few days but each time she had managed to excuse herself, slipping away to either be by his akka’s side or by his patti’s side or his amma’s side. It had gotten to the point where he was seriously considering if he could somehow climb into Vanathi’s chambers during the night to talk to her. He dismissed the possibility almost immediately knowing that if someone found out both of them would be in deep trouble with his family member, him more than her.

Should he try and kidnap her instead? Hmm.. what if he kidnapped her after informing his Akka that he was kidnapping her? No that was ridiculous. Plus his akka would never let him hear the end of it. Maybe he could ask Vanthiyathevan………… No, no even worse. The Vanar Kula warrior would immediately go to tell his akka and then he would have to deal with being ribbed by both of them. Terrible idea. He could ask Samudra Kumari to talk to her, but given their last interaction with each other, he had a feeling Vanathi would just flee upon seeing her.

He sat down as he massaged his temples trying to think, as he looked out into the palace courtyard….

Right at Vanathi who sat with his Akka, chattering away like she had not nearly driven him to insanity with her actions.

He watched her for a second, blinked, and made a decision. Like the tiger he was, he rushed towards them, smirking mildly when he saw Vanathi’s eyes widen.

“Akka!”

“Thambi?” Kundavai had a knowing smirk on her face, and had mildly angled herself to ensure Vanathi couldn’t get away that easily.

“I am sorry to do this to you, but I have to talk to my wife!” he scooped her into his arms, bridal style, and raced across the courtyard, as fast as lightning.

Vanathi shrieked as she was lifted by him, feeling mortified as he carried her through the palace, burying her head in his chest, praying that no one saw them.

Arulmozhi didn’t stop until they had reached his chambers, uncaring that anyone could have seen them being so brazen. It would only speed up their marriage after all. He set her down gently, before turning to lock the door and stared at her, his illavarasi who now seemed to praying to the earth to swallow her up. Biting away a grin he asked, “So, Kodumbalur Illavarasi, can we finally talk?”

“Talk? About what, Ponniyin Selvan?”

“You know what about, Devi,” he said softly, taking a step closer.

“No, no, I do not,” she gulped, still staring at the Earth, making him smile softly as he took another step forward.

“Yes you do. Why have you been avoiding me?” he had crossed a personal boundary, but considering how she had been clutching him when he had held her, he knew she would tell him to move if she wanted that.

“I… I just wanted to give you space with your loved one, or so I thought…”

“Then you should have been around me!”

Vanathi’s eyes snapped up at those words as she tried to search his face for any traces of a joke, or him being another one of her daydreams. But he was right there, evidenced by the fact that he had just carried her throught the palace.

“Illavarase, this is all highly inappropriate, we shouldn’t be………..” She found herself robbed of all speech as he took another step closer to her. Oh lord, any closer and she was sure he would almost hear the tandavam her heart was doing in her chest.

She backed away slowly from him, hand reaching blindly for the door behind her hoping to find it’s bolt, but the prince was faster, moving closer to her so she had no option but to startle away from the door.

“You cannot possibly hope to avoid me forever Vanthi”, he chided her though his voice held no sternness.

“Illavarase, one only avoids those whom they feel scared of”, came her reply, eliciting a small smile from him.

“And is that why you have been avoiding me?” came the question, much softer than before.

Oh god, they were now circling around a table, each waiting for the other’s next move. Vanathi had heard tales of how the eyes of tigers were often hypnotic, but now standing in front of her illavarase she believed them, for there was no other reason that the world fell away as she looked at him.

Swallowing with difficulty, she replied, “Ayya how can I be scared of you? I was just….”

“Just?” Was he teasing her? Vanathi was suddenly beginning to doubt if all her assumptions about him having no affection for her were false.

“I had other things to be doing, and I am sure even you did. I did not want to bother you.”

Arulmozhi stilled at that, before throwing back his head to laugh, loudly until he almost felt tears of mirth gathering in his eyes. He was sure, that his beloved probably thought him mad at that moment but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

“Ponniyin Selvare, are you all right?”

Shoulders still shaking, he gasped out, “Vanathi, anbe, has anyone told you that you are a terrible liar?”

Vanathi felt the world cease all movement for a moment as she heard the term “anbe” slip out of his mouth, so effortlessly, so casually, as if it was not the first time he had ever called her that, as if he had been wanting to say it to her for a while.

“A-anbe?” She stuttered out, cursing the blush that had formed on her cheeks, not realizing how delighted he was to see it.

“Anbe, Kaadhale, Kanmani, Arasi, Iniyavale, every single term of love is for you, Vanathi,” his voice had turned intimate, his eyes resting on hers, not moving away from her gaze, allowing her to capture his emotions in full force.

Vanathi suddenly felt faint, as it hit her that she had been wrong, so very wrong. She had been blind to every gaze he had directed at her, every word he had said she had been deaf to, even now she had been the one avoiding him while had been searching for her. She sat down heavily on a chair as she felt herself beginning to lose consciousness, only to be jolted out of it as she felt two very strong, callused hands on her shoulders.

“Vanathi? Vanathi? Look at me, look at me. Are you ok?”

She nodded weakly as she focused on his face, now scrunched into an expression of worry, as he looked her up and down to assess her.

Arulmozhi felt an almost blind panic hit him as he saw Vanathi collapsing onto the chair in front of her, and he reached forward instinctively to hold her.

“Kaadhale?”

“Vanathi?”, he tried as she seemed not to hear him, causing him to place his hands on her shoulders to ground her. It seemed to work as she focused on him, causing a flood of relief through his system. Making sure she was fine, he turned to fetch her a glass of water, handing it to her, as he noted how much her hands seemed to be shaking.

“Wait, let me”, he said as he slowly brought the glass to her lips, watching as some of the water spilled down her chin. Making sure she was fine, he leaned down to wipe away the excess water on her face even as he felt his heart pick up pace with her gaze on him.

Vanathi for her part was doing her best not to shiver at his close proximity, unable to look away from him for even a second as he fussed over her, suffusing her being with warmth.

Seeming satisfied that there was no immediate threat of her fainting, he moved to cup her face with one hand as his thumb ran lightly over her face. Vanathi froze as she felt his touch so intimately, resisting the urge to simply melt into his arms.

“You scared me kaadhale.”

“N-Natha,” she mumbled, blinking and blushing when she says that. “I am s-sorry…”

“Don’t be, not for calling me Natha, Swamini,” he whispered. When she flashed wide eyes at him, he cupped her cheek very gently, whispering, “Yes, you are my Swamini, Devi.”

She looked at him deeply, with luminous eyes, which suddenly filled with tears.

“You were trying to talk to me.. and I just, I hurt you,” she wept, falling into his arms.

Arulmozhi immediately pulled her close to him, trying to calm her as he assured her that she had not done any harm to him.

“Shhhhhh anbe. Do not weep like this. You have never hurt me, ever. How can I be hurt by you, hmm?”

She still did not stop crying, every tear that fell feeling like a knife to his heart. Gently detangling himself from her he knelt down fully in front of her, as he took her hand in his, ignoring the slight gasp she let out.

“Ponniyin Selvare, what are you-”

“Vanathi, my uyirin uyir, my kanmani, you can never hurt me. You are not just in my heart but also my soul. I wish I could say my heart was mine but the truth is it has become yours long ago. You are in every breath I take and every one of my senses. I have been wanting to say this for far too long now, but there was always something preventing me. And today, I am kneeling before you to tell you I love you. Wholly, truly, irrevocably I love you.”

Vanathi gasped, her hands going to his neck to cup his jaw.

“Once more, please?” She pleaded.

“I love you, wholly, truly, irrevocably,” he whispered, tender smile on his face.

“Swami,” she whispered softly, leaning to tip her forehead to his. “Swami, Swami, I lost my heart to you when we first met at the banks of Ponni Thai. And I only kept losing it over and over to you, every second of every day. I have dreamt so much of you telling me you loved me, that I couldn’t even process it at first. Oh Swami, I can’t express how I love you, but I do. So so so much. To see a smile on your face, I would even sacrifice my life.”

Arulmozhi vehemently shook his head, bringing one finger over her lips. “Never, ever say that again Vanathi. My life is in you. I cannot survive without you.”

Vanathi laughed as she finally realized what had happened, pressing closer to her Swami as she just looked at him, determined to not miss even a second of possibly the happiest occurrence of her life. Separating from him, she moved to lay a soft kiss on his forehead as she murmured “I love you”, moving down to kiss his eyes as she said the same, then onto his cheeks, stopping only when she reached his lips. Drawing back slightly, she watched as his eyes opened as he looked at her, absolute love spilling out of them as he raised himself slightly to cup her face and slowly meld their lips together.

It felt as though a million butterflies had been released in Arulmozhi’s stomach as he finally kissed those lips he had dreamt of for so long, the smile that threatened to overtake his face making it difficult to keep kissing her like he wanted to. Drawing away only a few millimeteres to breathe he said, “You do know now there is no question of you ever avoiding me?”

Vanathi giggled as he said that, replying, “If avoiding you gets you to be so poetic, Swami, I will gladly do it.”

Arulmozhi too felt a laugh bubbling inside of him as he got up and lifted his arasi in his arms to spin her around even as more laughter spilled forth from her lips, stopping only to press their foreheads together and say, “You are my whole heart Vanathi.”

“And you are my everything, Arase,” she whispered, shyly kissing the corner of his lips, blushing but wanting to shower him with her love.

He kissed her lips over and over, still twirling her, both of them joyous in the colours their life and love took.

*****

@vibishalakshman @thelekhikawrites @nspwriteups @dumdaradumdaradum @dr-scribbler @willkatfanfromasia @kovaipaavai @celestesinsight @thirst4light @rang-lo @thegleamingmoon @theambidexterousarcher @whippersnappersbookworm @chiyaanvikram @hollogramhallucination @arachneofthoughts @krishna-sahacharini

#ponniyin selvan #ponniyin selvan 2 #arulmozhi #vanathi #vanmozhi #kundavai #poonkuzhali #sendhan amudhan #vanthiyathevan #desi #desiblr #rajaraja chola

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ambidextrousarcher · 8 months

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“ஆமாம். அக்கா, ஆமாம்! நாகைப்பட்டினத்துப் புத்த பிக்ஷுக்கள் சொன்னதாகக் கூறினாயே? அதன்படியே நடந்தது. அநுராதபுரத்தில் புத்த பிக்ஷுக்களின் மகா சங்கத்தார் எனக்கு இலங்கைச் சிங்காதனத்தையும், கிரீடத்தையும் அளிக்க முன் வந்தார்கள். நான்தான் மறுத்து விட்டேன், அக்கா! இராஜ்யத்தில் எனக்கு ஆசையில்லாதபடியால்தான் மறுதளித்தேன். நீ வேறு எது சொன்னாலும் கேட்கிறேன். இராஜ்யம் ஆளும் தொல்லை மட்டும் எனக்கு வேண்டாம்! அதைக் காட்டிலும் கடலில் படகு விட்டுக்கொண்டு எவ்வளவோ ஆனந்தமாயிருக்கலாம். கேள், அக்கா! கோடிக்கரையில் ஓடக்காரப் பெண் ஒருத்தி இருக்கிறாள்...”

Excerpt From

Ponniyin Selvan Anaithu Pagangal (Tamil Edition)

Kalki

This material may be protected by copyright.

Context: Arulmozhi thinks he is speaking to his sister in his fevered delirium.

“Yes, elder sister, yes! Had you not told me of the prediction made by the Buddhist monks in Nagapattinam? Events happened just as they were foretold. The Buddhist monks belonging to the Maha Sangam in Anuradhapuram came forward to grant me the throne and the crown of Lanka. It was I who refused, elder sister! Having no desire to rule a Kingdom, I refused. Whatever else you say, I shall listen. Only the trouble of ruling a Kingdom, I don’t want! Instead of that, how happy we can be sailing in the seas. Listen, elder sister! There is a boatwoman in Kodikkarai…”

Delirious as he is, I still think Arulmozhi holds Poonkuzhali in a high regard at this point of time, because his first thought to tell his adored sister was about her. I do believe he felt something for her, at least as a friend, or something akin to admiration for her.

Also….this is making me think, for in a future chapter, one probably set a few days after this one (as Arulmozhi, Sendhan and Poonkuzhali reach Choodamani monastery) one of the monks there speaks of Kundavai having visited them in the recent past, and spoken of the possibility of them hosting Arulmozhi, that what is the timeline for these events? I like to think that Kundavai had spoken to the monks in Nagapattinam and sent Arulmozhi a letter regarding the possibility of him being enthroned, or had Annirudhar rely her message, which means Kundavai had visited Nagapattinam very recently, perhaps after leaving Thanjai on the way to Pazhayarai?

Tagging my usual tag list! @whippersnappersbookworm @mizutaama @celestesinsight @thereader-radhika @thelekhikawrites @themorguepoet @deadloverscity @harinishivaa @racoonpaws @favcolourrvibgior @willkatfanfromasia and @humapkehaikaun

#ponniyin selvan #snippet #book 3 #poonkuzhali #arulmozhi #vandiyathevan #kundavai

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dosai-maavu · 6 months

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Two Full Moons

I recently rewatched both of the PS movies and I gotta say, the dialogues are just INCREDIBLE.

i don't know if anyone else has noticed it, but there's such a clever play on words when Nandini and Kundavai have their exchange when Kundavai enters the Thanjavur Fortress.

The conversation goes: Nandini: Welcome Princess, your arrival has beautified the whole of Thanjai's fortress.

Kundavai: I've heard that you have collected and kept all of the beauty in the fortress.

When you watch it for the first time, it looks like it's just clever conversation between two smart and sharp women. But wait. Who in the story is described as being so beautiful, that their NAME was altered to celebrate it? Kundavai's father, Sundara Chozhar. Kundavai and Nandini are indirectly talking about how HER father, the King of the Chola Empire, has basically been imprisoned in the fortress.

The conversation continues,

Nandini: Yes, beauty is kept captive here.

Kundavai: Captive? I thought it was seated on a Golden Throne.

Nandini: Yes, but it is old gold.

Kundavai: The older the gold, the more respected.

Nandini: Even if it is made of gold, shackles are shackles.

Kundavai: The key to those shackles are in my hands.

Nandini is taunting Kundavai here, talking about how her father is old and cannot do anything to resist becoming a puppet of the Pazhuvettarayars. He has no freedom. It doesn't matter that he's a King with a luxurious palace and everything he needs a beck and call away, he's still under the thumbs of the Pazhuvettarayars.

Kundavai has a befitting reply of course. It doesn't matter that her father is basically under house arrest. She, Kundavai, being a Princess of the land has much more power than the Pazhuverttarayar brothers. She has the power to release her father from their control. She still has more power than Nandini.

It's such a clever way to show how Nandini and Kundavai hate each other, to the very core. It looks like a fun, teasing conversation but in reality, both insulting each other in the worst way possible.

#ponniyin selvan 2 #ponniyin selvan #nandini #kundavai #vandiyathevan #arulmozhi varman x vanathi #aditha karikalan

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deadloverscity · 1 year

Video

#PONNIYINSELVAN : veera chozha veera (please pretend the glitch foes not exist)

#ponniyin selvan #arulmozhi varman #vandhiyathevan #nandhini #kundavai

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dr-scribbler · 11 months

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ULLANGKAVAR KALVAN - ArunMozhi & Vaanathi Oneshot

Thodudaiya seviyan vidaiyaeriyor thooven mathi soodi~~~ thodudaiya seviyan vidaiyaeriyor thooven mathi soodi kaadudaiya sudalai podi poosi en ullangkavar kalvan~~~~~ kaadudaiya sudalai podi poosi en ullangkavar kalvan

As she sings those words with small tears peaking out of her curtain-like eyelashes, as whimpers out the song again and again with so much to say yet to remain in silence.

She was relieved when she was finally able to see the love of her life breathing and slowly healing from the fever he got by facing death. As she sat on the balcony facing the ocean where the sky meet it and how conjoin both sky and sea. But in reality, they never get to touch each other, never cherish their longings same as she is now.

As thoughts clouded her mind, her bad luck and inferiority peaked in. She was neither the beauty nor the brave. She doesn't have anything to give to her Prince who is the combination of everything she is not. As her tears clouded her eyes just like thoughts she hoped that she can at least be near him even if it is not as his wife but even as a woman who can help him to be well.

As she and her akka Kundhavai arrived at Eezham to check on their most loved prince. She was happy that he is alive and finally able to calm down after the storm she felt over the course of days.

But as she made sure her love is well and improving, she heard from the brilliant spymaster Nambi who told about the bravery of a boat girl who made sure the prince is alive and rowed the boat a full day to help get the prince here. How she is the Samuthirakumari and just how brilliant she radiates just like her name ' Poonguzhali'.

And Vaanathi felt proud by hearing about other women's will to help the prince. But she also notices how concerned Poonguzali was when she always sat next to his head while the Buddha Bakshi treated the prince. It was that time Vaanathi saw Poonguzhali, the mesmerizing beauty just like her name and her title, she radiates depth like an ocean. Her eyes held pure love and commitment.

How could she ever able to be something she never was? She is after all bad luck, that's what most of the people she ever met said to her. Her parents are dead, and because of her luck, she sent the lovable prince to Eezham back when she faints and causes this to him. How could she ever able to digest this? Everything about her is just bad luck. What Poonguzhali did is what the youngest Chola prince needs in his life. A companion that he can able to count on, who he can able to take with him alongside his battle, who was strong enough to save him in any situation, who is beautiful and full of strength, who would give him a child just as much as the warrior he is. She could never able to give anything she just listed for Samuthiria Kumari.

Her thoughts were cut off by her lovable Akka voice, which she is thankful for.

'Vaanthi, please be near Arunmozhi, I have to discuss something with Vanathiadevan' Kundavai told Vanathi and went to find the Vaanar Kulla Veeran. Even though she is nervous she always obeys her Akka, as in this world only a few love her without any expectations.

She peeked in find her love sleeping peacefully, his fever drastically decreased by gods grace. She went in and sat next to her prince and nervously placed her hands on his head and combed through his glorious and soft hair. As she closed her eyes and let her tears fall, she started to pray to Shiva, who always protects the prince. She is also thankful that she can be near him even though she may not be his wife or have those blessings this is more than she could ask for.

Mutral aamai ila naagamodaena mulai kombavai poondu Vatral odu Kalanaapali Thernd-enadh-ullam Kavar kalvan Katral kaettal Udaiyaar Periyaar Kazhal Kaiyaal Thozhudaetha Petram Urndha Piramaapura Maeviya

As she sings those lines she forgets her surroundings, it is just her and the prince who is the epitome of grace, handsome, glory, intelligent, and calm. Salt tears rolled down her smile graced her lips and fell down. If anything she can do to help her prince feel less pain is to accept his pain as hers, She prayed to god that every pain he is going through will fall upon her, and she would gladly take those and make her prince feel better, every bad thing that is meant to happen to him will fall on her and she makes sure to take those and give him all the joyous things that meant for her and him. She repeated those again and again and whimpered that she is being useless among others, only thing she has herself is that she is born a princess and there is nothing exceptional about her, and how she doesn't deserve this beautiful and charming prince.

As tears flow down from her closed eyelids, she opened her eyes as she heard a murmuring. Her eyes widen as she realized that it is coming from Arunmozhi before her. She smiled and turned around to find if anyone coming in so that she can ask them to fetch the Princes and others, But she stopped and turned back to listen to what her prince is murmuring in his current state.

'Vaa-' His lips opened and closed quickly as she is unable to hear it properly.

'Vaa-na-thi' As the words fell into her eyes, her body froze and happy tears rolled out, She couldn't believe what she is hearing. She held his palm in her hand and caressed it softly. At this moment there is no one else who matters and it's just her and him. His eyelids slowly opened and his charcoal-colored eyes softly grazed her.

'Vaanathi' He whispered and smiled softly at her. The smile which spoke a million words, the smile which let her know that it is going to be ok. She returned the smile and thanked god.

Three days later.

As she stood watching the waves hit the grounds from her balcony facing the Eezham sea which slowly turned red as the sun started to set. They will be leaving for Thanjai tomorrow and she is nervous again. Where does she stand now and what she has to do on returning to Thanjai? Still, Ilavarasar is not entirely out of danger and she is scared for him. After the intimate moment that happened three days before she is all alone again and often she wondered whether she dreamt it or it really happened.

'Why your eyes are filled with sorrow?' A voice asked her from behind and she just know who is the owner of it even without turning around.

She smiled sadly and shook her head as she is unable to form words in front of him still.

'Won't I be blessed with your voice?' He asked and come to stand next to her. She lifted her eyes and shyly looked at her love with a soft smile. But her eyes hold so many emotions.

'It should be me who would feel blessed to be near you' Her words made him smile down at her. As he raise his hands and tucked the hair behind her ears, the close proximity makes her feel the light head and she prayed that she won't faint just another time in front of him. Her heartbeat raced to a level she doesn't even know if it was possible.

'So you like gazing at the ocean?' He asked and looked ahead of him to see the evening sky that had painted the ocean with its color.

'It makes me feel calm at times, my Ilavarase' She said and looked away from him to feel somewhat less nervous again.

'Why not all time?' He questioned her and she doesn't know whether she should be open about her feelings to him.

'Well other times, I wonder how the Sky and ocean feel to be close but yet never be able to get closer forever' Her answers made him smile as he knows what he is implying.

'Maybe that's what makes it more romantic even, that even with the distance they still don't leave one another. And Ocean yet makes sure to gaze at the sky every single time and the sky pours her heart out to him without missing a beat. So they both can taste each other's love' His words made her look at him as if he is answering all her doubts.

'Will you be my Vaan(Sky) my Vaanathi?' The Prince asked her, and she is surprised that he is asking permission when she is all his.

'How can I give you permission when I am already yours?' She said with tears falling down just like the sky pours down the droplet of water into the ocean.

Arumozhi bent down and attached his forehead against hers and circled his hands around and wrist and brought her closer. The scent of rain made them fall over each other again and again. As both their eyes gaze upon each other his lips brushed down hers softly just like the ocean drinking the droplets from the sky.

Her breath caught in her chest and her hands found their way into his hair she hold him for her dear life, fearing that her legs would give out if she lose him.

As they shared their kiss of love, the ocean and sky smiled at each other as they are finally able to be with each other forever.

Arunmozhi proved to her that she is his sky and he is her Ocean, both always be with each other no matter what.

After all, he is her 'Ullangkavar Kalvan'

@chiyaanvikram @willkatfanfromasia @whippersnappersbookworm @celestesinsight @curiousgalacticsoul @thelekhikawrites @hollogramhallucination @nspwriteups @yehsahihai @thirst4light

@freeunknownwasteland @harinishivaa @arachneofthoughts @vibishalakshman

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philtstone · 9 months

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more ponniyin selvan + text posts for @foolgobi65

#once again in my useless meme era #ponniyin selvan #i needed better text posts for poonguzhali and vanathi and arunmozhi tbh #the greatest bangers are always aditha and nandini. bc they are the craziest and thus the funniest #text post meme #aditha karikalan #vandiyadevan #arunmozhi varman #poonguzhali #kundavai #nandini #aditha x nandini #also SEMBANNNN! my beloved bastard horse.

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balladedutempsjadis · 11 months

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Ponniyin Selvan (The Book vs. Movie edition)

I've just today finished the five volumes of Kalki Krishnamurthy's epic historical novel Ponniyin Selvan, which was the basis for the two-movie series of the same name which I ADORED after I watched the first movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago. And ... I have some thoughts on the books and on the adaptation of the books. First of all, some general thoughts about the books:

I really wish I could read this in the original Tamil. In my understanding, these books are a beloved modern classic of Tamil literature, and the English translation, though perfectly fine and serviceable in terms of explicating the plot, rarely has memorable language.

Perhaps this is a function of the translation, or a different literary tradition, or the author's style (and I'll never really know which), but there is a lot of stuff that I can best describe as static. Actions and events are often described after they occur so as a reader, I felt distanced from what was going on in several scenes.

There are a LOT of coincidences (the entire Sembian Amuthan plotline is heavily based on coincidences) and repetition.

Even if I didn't know this was serialized, I would have guessed because of the repetition mentioned above, frequent flashbacks, and the padding out of some of the scenes. This isn't necessarily a bad thing (it reminds me of Dickens' novels, which I happen to be quite fond of) but it's definitely a hallmark of the novels.

I felt sometimes that Kalki was having a bit of a struggle with the historical characters having to do what they did in history versus his fictional characters like Nandini being able to do what they wanted. So sometimes I felt the characterizations were a bit lacking (and I definitely skipped some of Sembian Mahadevi's musings, SORRY!)

Now for the differences between the books and film versions (SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS AND BOTH FILMS BELOW).

In general, with one exception I'll talk about later, I think the scriptwriters did an amazing job of adapting this immense series to film. In fact, for a number of things, I think they improved the pacing of the narrative and cut out extraneous stuff that detracted from the momentum of the main story - these were things that may have worked in a serialized novel but would have drowned even a gigantic six hour film series. All that follows is just my opinion, of course!

First of all, a fair number of characters were just cut out of the story, which I thought tightened up the narrative. (For example, Manimeghalai was completely unnecessary IMO for the story to proceed and she really detracted from the scene between Aditha Karikalan and Nandini when Karikalan dies; the intensity of that scene would have suffered from having anyone else observe it.) Poonghuzhali's brother and father (her sister-in-law Rakkamal is still there but not related) are gone in the film version. And that's all fine, I think it would have made things more confusing and I don't even think a tv series would have been able to use ALL these characters. (Also, I think I like that Poonghzhali seems more stable in the movie.)

I also liked that they cut out the astrologer. I thought the book relied way too heavily on the astrologer's predictions and while that may have been an accurate portrayal of 10th century Chola society, it also removed the jeopardy from the characters. If Arulmozhi Varman's sister would be confident that nothing terrible could happen to him because of the lines on his palm, then it was really hard to generate suspense about him within the story. (I mean obviously as readers/moviegoers we might know that he became Rajaraja Chola and therefore survived the assassination attempts, but his contemporaries and the fictional characters in-universe didn't know that he would end up being a great king.)

For me, it was more powerful to see how much the kingdom mourned him and his family mourned him than to have his sister shrug and be like "oh well, the stars don't say he dies so he's probably alive." And the way that they mourned him also helped develop their characters (To be fair, I also can't figure out what Kalki believed re:astrology either, because occasionally the author's voice is very skeptical about the astrologer as well.)

More controversially, I think they were right to cut out the whole Senthan Amuthan storyline about being the real son of Sembian Mahadevi and the previous king etc. etc. The hidden identity heir business was just way too melodramatic for me even in the book, and I don't think it would have worked at all for me in the movies. I mean, SA doesn't really even have much characterization in the book anyway (he's there a lot and helps out when he can but other than the fact that he loves Poonguzhali and has a nice voice, I couldn't tell you much about him.) Plus that would necessitate that Fake!Madhurantaka be Nandini's twin etc. and that would also have not been believable.

Now ... onto the main characters books vs. movie:

Aditha Karikalan: I honestly liked him much more in the movies than in the books. He was the tragic hero of the movie, with a clear arc, and Vikram brought oodles of charisma to his role. But in the books, he was a lot more opaque to me (his love for Nandini is not his focus - so he maybe falls in love with Manimegalai? - and that moment where he chooses to die isn't as crystal clear.) Also, Book!Aditha is a bit of an asshole towards all of his friends, frankly, which movie Aditha is not.

His chief faults in the movie are that he's ruled by his emotions (which is both why he sins against Nandini by beheading an unarmed man - Veera Pandyan - in a fit of rage that Nandini is pleading for his life AND why he tries to atone for that sin by committing suicide, which of course doesn't actually solve anything and in fact embroils innocent people like Vandiyathevan in a horrible situation).I still think he wouldn't have made a good king, not least because he would not listen to ANYONE'S advice, whether that someone was his grandfather, his friend, or his brother or his sister.

Book!Aditha might have made a better King - he actually goes to Kadambur not just to see Nandini, but partly in order to find out and allay the different Chola clans and possibly cement one of their loyalties by marriage to MM, so I thought that made for an interesting contrast. Even in the books, though, Kalki compares how the people mourned Aditha (as a great warrior whose absence threatened their kingdom's survival) and how they mourned Arulmozhi when he was believed to be dead (as a beloved son/brother even if they didn't know him personally.) The book (and movie though to a lesser degree because it's so preoccupied with Nandini/Aditha) has a lot to say about power and responsibility (so there are constant contrasts between not just Aditha and Arulmozhi but between the Pazhuvettarayar brothers and Arulmozhi - for example, over whether the Chola kingdom should supply the army in Elangai or whether they should live off the land. AMV is much more farsighted and knows how important it is to not make a conquered populace feel subjugated because they will rebel.)

Nandini: I feel like she was a lot more fleshed out in the film than Book!Nandini, and as she and Aditha were the emotional focal point of the movies, it makes more sense. Her motivations seemed clearer to me, and I also appreciated that we actually found out what happened to her, and she didn't just disappear off the page. I also liked, as mentioned above, that they didn't bother with the False!Madhuranthakan who was actually Nandini's twin etc. I liked that they fleshed out the love story between her and Aditha and gave Kundavai a role and also showed how it was Aditha's impulsive declaration that she would be THE Chola Queen that directly led to Nandini - who had done nothing wrong - being unceremoniously bundled off to wherever. (Would I also have liked a little more of how Aditha reacted to his family's banishment of Nandini? I think I would. Like we got a little bit of that in PS1 when he blames Kundavai for being jealous but not much more than that?)

Kundavai was very awesome in both book and film, but she had a lot less to do in the second movie. As I mentioned above, I loved that she actually believed her beloved younger brother to be dead so we got to see her reaction compared to Aditha's. (Aditha basically goes into beast mode and is like “I can fight whoever to avenge my little brother” and Kundavai is, as usual, a lot more rational even in the depths of grief.) I also really liked that brief scene the film gave us with all three siblings together which was a nice addition to the story. I felt there were not very many differences between Book! and Movie!Kundavai - although the book definitely played up her influence over her younger brother a bit more. She is the mirror to Nandini and maybe Nandini would have been like Kundavai if she had not had such struggles in her early life? I do like that in both books and movie, the female characters are so strong (I mean, well-characterized) and different from one another.

Vandiyadevan is just a great character! His resemblance to D'Artagnan was even stronger in the books (he had time for even more adventures) and his verbal sparring with Nambi was great and nicely translated to screen, I thought. I did think his presence in Kadambur and his (partial) witnessing of Aditha's death and aftermath was handled with more pace and worked better for me in the film (again, no Manimegalai was a great decision. And the picnic that Nandini goes on with Aditha and Vandiyadevan and MM and others (I think?) It was late at night when I was reading and I was like WTF so I might be misremembering it) dilutes the Aditha/Nandini meeting a lot. Anyway, back to Vandiyadevan - still sooooo charming. I loved Karthi in this role and am going to watch Kaatru Velliyadai (although I understand he's very different in that one!) sometime this week. But I found Book!Vandiyadevan lovely as well. I think his character translated perfectly from book to screen.

Arulmozhi Varman - I thought the books would focus more on him than they did, given that he's the title character. And I was a little surprised that he still wasn't the main focus of the books (though there's more focus on him in the later volumes), but there were some nice little character moments that I wish could have come into the movie. (Though there were a couple of things in the movie that I also really liked which showed his character beautifully.)

I read Kalki's afterword about how the pivotal scene in all of the books is Arulmozhi Varman's sacrifice of his crown, because that is an amazing thing for any ruler to do, to voluntarily give up his own power and step back. The books talk about the Chola ancestor Sibi, who was willing to give up his own life to protect a pigeon from an eagle because the pigeon was under his protection. I believe we are meant to understand Arulmozhi's sacrifice in a similar light. He is all about protecting the realm, even if it means sacrificing his own ambitions and that makes him Sibi's worthy heir. (In the Mahabharata, Arjuna is the peerless warrior prince, but his brother Yudhishtira is the Dharmaraja - the best of all; and I think we are meant to see echoes of Arjuna (and his son Abhimanyu, alone in the midst of his enemies) in Aditha and echoes of Yudhishtira in Arulmozhi.)

The books and the movie handle this immense sacrifice a little differently; in the book, we get a lot more motivation for that action: AMV is steeped in the history of the Singhalese kingdom and horrified by how bloody their succession battles were (he references fathers killing sons and vice versa more than once) and he is super clear that he doesn't want to bring that mess to the Chola kingdom or cause a civil war or anything like that. But there are two more elements as well, that I mostly got from the book: he truly loves Vanathi and she has sworn an oath that she doesn't want to be empress, so he can't have both Vanathi and the throne (but it's also a political decision, since if he's King, and marries Vanathi, then he'll be seen as privileging her clan above all others unless he marries a bunch of other girls as well). I also genuinely think he also wants to go hang out with Vandiyadevan and have adventures (while also doing the necessary jobs of fighting pirates and expanding trade and all that other stuff.)

The movies don't make that explanation as explicit, but there is this golden thread of self-sacrifice that runs through Arulmozhi's scenes in the movies as well: first of all, he refuses to take the throne of Elangai, though it is offered to him by the monks who crowned all the kings of the island. (This happens in both the books and the movie, but the books make this a more political decision - AMV says Elangai is too small for the scope of his vision, and that he doesn't want it to look like he's setting up a parallel second kingdom to the Cholas in opposition to his brother - whereas in the movies, it is clearly a matter of dharma. And the movie really sells that.)

Then Arulmozhi jumps into a stormy sea to swim to a ship full of people who want to kill him, in order to save Vandiyadevan. (I mean also some breathtaking confidence in himself that he and Vandiyadevan by themselves can defeat the Pandya rebels. He definitely does not lack for confidence :)) I cannot believe I actually forgot about this and had to come back and edit this post.I guess I am too used for Arulmozhi being awesome for this even to register on the scale?

The third self-sacrifice is when Arulmozhi is recovering from his life-threatening fever amidst the Buddhist monks at Nagapattinam. In the movie, somehow the Pandya assassins find out he's there and rile up the crowd which threatens to destroy the monastery which they claim is hiding their beloved prince from them. Although AMV is encouraged to slip away to escape the Pandya assassins, he refuses to repay his hosts by allowing their monastery to be destroyed. So he goes out to face the crowd, despite knowing that he's putting his life in danger by doing this. In the movie, he makes a choice to reveal himself and once again we see that Arulmozhi will always privilege the good of the people under his protection (the people of Elangai, Vandiyadevan, the monks, and ultimately the whole populace of the Chola Kingdom) over his own desires, and even his own life if need be. Over and over again, he shows himself to be the true heir of Sibi. (I also thought the elephant-goad plot was REALLY well done in the movie; even knowing obviously that AMV survived this, I was SO tense during that entire sequence. The book version just wasn’t as tense. Anyway …) So in the movie we keep seeing WHY Arulmozhi will be the great king he becomes but also why he will not take the crown at the end - and by not taking it, he makes himself all the more worthy of it.

In the book, in contrast, he leaves the monastery because there's about to be a devastating cyclone and it's not safe there any more. His disguise is revealed against his will by Rakammal hailing him as the prince; he's not given any choice in the matter. And he has very good and valid reasons for not wanting to reveal who he is which are also an excellent lead-up to his giving up the throne. Book!Arulmozhi wants to avoid a civil war over the succession at all possible costs. And he knows the public is fickle and easily swayed (there’s a whole subplot about there are rumors that HE had Vandiyadevan kill Aditha Karikalan so he - AMV - could be crowned, which only one character says in the film and everyone ELSE is like “Arulmozhi would NEVER!” But in the books more people seem like they are could be swayed by that thought - and giving up the throne to his father’s cousin is one spectacular way to give the lie to those rumors. And here’s also me, getting so angry on behalf of a fictional /historical character ;))

I think the movie version and the book version of this event both work really well for their respective media in terms of establishing who this man is, and what his character is, which lead up to his ultimate sacrifice.

The last sacrifice is, of course, that he give up the kingdom that *everyone* wants him to have. I think in both the books and the films, it's clear that the weird succession situation from his great-uncle Gandaraditha's day (where the throne when to the younger brothers of the king, and then to Sundara Chola - AMV's father - Gandarathia's nephew - rather than to Gandaraditha's own son) was bound to create a locus for discontent and coups egged on by the enemies of the Chola Kingdom. And that internecine strife is, from Kundavai's and AMV's perspective, what killed their brother and even put AMV in line to the throne at all. (They don't know all the backstory about Nandini and Aditha's guilt and his essential suicide. Also, I think it’s an interesting contrast between Aditha Karikalan who offers to give up the throne - once to the council of plotters where he says he’d do it if he had an army to go get himself another kingdom, and once when he proposes to Nandini that they just run off together. Arulmozhi had his chance at a kingdom won by force of arms - Elangai - and said no, and when he gives up the throne at the end of the books/movies it’s for love of the country he was expected to rule, not for love of an individual.)

The one thing I wish the movies had done was flesh out the Kundavai/Vandiyadevan and Vanathi/Arulmozhi connections. The actors did a lovely job with what they were given just from facial expressions and eyes (Vandiyadevan looks hopeless in love in the course of a single conversation when he's dressed as Krishna's uncle) and I bought into Vanathi and Arulmozhi's love for each other with nothing more than him reading her message in PS1 and a couple of times they looked at each other (so much love for Jayam Ravi and Shobita Dhulipala's facial expressions which sold the connection), but IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE FOR BOTH THESE COUPLES TO HAVE A CONVERSATION! But I realize I've seen a couple of Mani Ratnam's Hindi films (Dil Se, and Raavan - though I really want to watch the Tamil version of that) and he does doomed romance very adroitly. (Although from reading the plots of his several other films, apparently he also does do happy endings sometimes and I sort of wish we could have shifted the focus from Nandini/Aditha A LITTLE BIT to maybe just get a tiny conversation between these two other couples the I also loved. But at least I got some crumbs in terms of the full videos of the songs of "Veera Raja Veera" (for AMV/Vanathi) and "Aga Naga" (for Kundavai/Vandiyadevan. (FYI, the Veera Raja Veera video song is super hot - Rajaraja Chola is looking at his beloved while she dances as though she is an extremely tasty snack he can't wait to sample :P)

ALSO, if anyone wants to make PS3 with these actors I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER. In my head, it would be about Vandiyadevan doing wild stuff and flirting with EVERYBODY while Arunmozhi Varman sort of sighs and goes along with him to try and exercise some control over him* because Kundavai will kill him if anything happens to her boo, and they keep getting embroiled in weirder stuff and getting hit on the head (Vandiyadevan) and chilling out looking at Buddhist cave art and talking to elephants (AMV) and Kundavai just sits back and continues to run the kingdom (because she knows that AMV will not let anything happen to her boo). And of course, Nambi would be keeping an eye on both of them as well. Meanwhile, Vanathi is doing lots of dancing and going on some of the art tours with her husband, and also hanging out with Kundavai and rolling their eyes over their husbands. That would be totally fine!

*one of the things I loved in the books was that Vandiyadevan is influenced by Arulmozhi to be more truthful and upstanding, while Arulmozhi gets more devious after he meets Vandiyadevan. I feel this dynamic (along with the real-life bromance of Karthi and Jayam Ravi - every interview I've seen with them is the two of them having a great time!) would be AWESOME.

OK, this is insanely LONG again but I really enjoyed the novels and the movies - each medium enhanced the other for me, and in my head, the version of Ponniyin Selvan is what takes the parts I liked the best in movies and film. So Movie!Aditha and Movie!Nandini, BOTH the Vandiyadevans, Kundavais, Arulmozhi Varmans and Vanathis live in my heart :D

And I've also acquired Anirudh Kanisetti's Lords of the Deccan (which is more about the Cholas' predecessors and opponents like the Rashtrakutas and the Chalukyas) and Kamini Dandapani's Rajaraja Chola, which is about Ponniyin Selvan (but also about his predecessors and successors.)

#ponniyin selvan #Ponniyin Selvan 2 #aditha karikalan #arulmozhi varman #kundavai #vandiyadevan #vanathi #aishwarya rai bachchan #vikram #trisha #jayam ravi #shobita dhulipala #mani ratnam

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thecrazyinktrovert · 4 months

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"She probably doesn't like me that way" Also her, admiring him:

#ponniyin selvan #kundavai #vanthiyathevan #trisha krishnan #karthi #ps 1 #ps2

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whippersnappersbookworm · 1 year

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Viraha(a feeling of longing one has when seperated from one's lover)

Kundavai was sitting all alone in the veranda of anthapuram.Night has descended upon Pazhayari , the residents of the city had retired after a day full of celebration. Only the darling Illavarasi of Chola Kingdom is awake with the serene moon as her companion. Moonlight shines brightly on Kundavai's sharp features and doe shaped eyes. The always alert and sophisticated Kundavai seems a bit lost in her own world as she humms a soft melody...

Aganaga aganaga muganagaiyae..ho

Muganaga muganaga murunagaiyae..ho

Murunaga murunaga tharunagaiyae..ho hoo

Tharunaga tharunaga varunanaiyae..

Yaaradhu yaaradhu

Punnagai korppadhu

Yaavilum yaavilum

En manam serppadhu

'Vandiyathevan '...

Illavarasi first heard this name three years back in a letter from her Anna. She remembered it vividly, as it was the first letter where there was no mention of Nandini.But rather it was filled with tales of a certain Vanar prince who had impressed her Anna with his quick wit and charm. Since then Vallavaryan had became a regular member in Anna's letters . Those tales of bravery and charm had obviously impressed Kundavai, and made her keen to meet this paragon of manhood. In some of his letters Anna had even joked about how the witty prince would be a perfect match to her scheming mind and how he would swept her of her feet. Kundavai , having been raised as a perfect princess never believed in those abstract concepts of love, she always knew that if she ever married it will be a political alliance , and what is marriage? but an arrangement between two people. Kundavai was too mature to believe in any romantic nonsense, but today after meeting the Veer from Vanar Kulam , her heart wants to believe in this madness.

"Uyir Ungaludaiyadhu devi ..."

He had told her but did he really meant it or was it an empty promise? For the first time in her life Kundavai doesn't have any answer to a question, an uncertain fear of losing something she never had has grappled her heart, for the first time in her life Kundavai felt restless and lost, she felt as if something has shifted, something has changed. Till now everything in her life has revolved around her family and her beloved Chola Desam but now something has changed. Someone else has entered her heart without her knowledge...when did this happen? She felt as if this was the moment she was waiting for since the day she was born. She was an young girl till yesterday but now she has transformed into a woman . An woman eager to meet her beloved, to embrace him , to tell him how much he means to her .Is this what the poets talks about? Is this how one feels when in love? Is it what her Anna had felt when he had met Nandini? Or is it what her dear Vanathi had felt when she first saw her brother? Kundavai murmured to herself as she played with her long wavy hair -

Vandiyathevan what black magic have you done ? What games are you playing with this innocent maiden's heart? Why are you tormenting me like this? Why did you make those promises to me? Why? Why?

I was perfectly fine , living in my small happy bubble untill you arrived like a West wind in my life ... You have transformed this practical, hard hearted illavarasi into a swooning maiden . You have stolen my heart and carried it away with you to Eezham ... Leaving me here all alone yearning for a touch or a glance . How can I sleep peacefully in night when my heart is out there , away from me in a boat towards Eezham... Oh how I wish to leave all this scheming and plotting behind and run away with you to the sunset!! - Kundavai sighed

" I know that I could never be yours as you are a comman man and i am a princess bound by her duty to the crown but today with the ever-present moon as my witness I promise to you that you will be the only one i will ever love!

Unknown to Kundavai another soul faraway from her in a boat towards Eezham was promising her the same

-------------------------------------------

Haa..aaa..aaa..aaa…aaa..

Alaikadal aazham nilavu ariyaadhoo

Yeloo yel yeloo

Adi mana dhaagam vizhil theriyaadhoo

Yeloo yel yeloo

"Dhaat!"-

Vandiyathevan muttered sleepily.

Poonguzhali is going on for hours now but there is no use of telling her that as she will once again threaten to stab him with her knife . Vandiyathevan tries to sleep ,but alas! Poonguzhali's haunting melody was not going to make it easy for him.

"Poonghuzhali , what a beautiful name !"- Vandiyathevan thought.

Senthan Amudan was not wrong she is a beautiful girl but not as beautiful as Kundavai.

Kundavai?

Where did this came from? When did Vandiyathevan started comparing every other girl he met with the Illiya Piratti?

Vandiyathevan like every other comman folk of the Chola Desam has heard several glorious tales about Kundavai since he was a teenager. He had heard about her unusual beauty which had made the greatest of the kings mad, he had heard about her intelligence which can rival the learned sages. But every single praises dims in comparison to the real women . She was much more than that , she is a goddess in disguise , her twinkling eyes are much more addictive than opium , one wishes to get lost in them. She really is the most precious jewel of the Chola kulam. Vandiyathevan remembered how fondly Aditha karikalan and his grandfather used to recount Kundavai's several anecdotes to them , and how each one them used to wait eagerly for this tales , especially him and Parthibendan.

Parthibendan!

Drat! How could he forget about Parthibendan?

Isn't Illavarasi already promised to Parthibendan? Yes! Parthibendan told him that he and Kundavai are going to get married.

Haye! What was he thinking? How can he forget this important detail? And how can he,The Vallavaryan Vandiyathevan lost his heart to an already engaged women!

"Lost his heart? When did this happened?" - Vandiyathevan wondered aloud

Women had always enchanted Vandiyathevan. They are so pretty, yet so dangerous. His elders had always warned him about the evils of the women. Thus Vandiyathevan had always managed to guard his heart. But this time he was not so lucky , the cupid's arrow had finally pierced him. Love has come in his life in form of the Illiya Piratti. But what is so special about this particular woman? She definitely isn't the most beautiful one... Vandiyathevan had met women far more beautiful than her. For god's sake he had met the Pazhavoor Ilayarani , whose beauty rivals the heavenly Apsaras. But here he is lamenting over the unattainable Kundavai .Did he really had to fall for the one woman in the whole Chola Desam who he can't have? How stupid of him. Also what was he thinking ? Promising the Illavarasi that his heart belongs to her...she must have thought that he is an uncultured warrior who flirts with everything that resembles a woman. He does but still!! .Vandiyathevan ran a hand through his already messy locks , Poonguzhali has finally stopped her repetitive song. But Vandiyathevan is no more in mood to sleep , his heart has been set ablaze by the new found realisation .

"Kundavai " sighed Vandiyathevan

"I know that you are unattainable and engaged to someone else but I have given you my heart and from today onwards it will always belong to you. I promise to you with the ever present moon as my witness that you are the only one I will ever love."

Here you go!. This my attempt to write a fic about my favourite ship Kundavai and Vandiyathevan... please give me your honest opinions. Thank you @shaonsim ,@vijayasena for encouraging me to post this. Thank you @ambidextrousarcher for helping me with the typos

@thelekhikawrites @vibishalakshman @rang-lo @kovaipaavai ( your fic influenced me to write this)@thatacademic @dumdaradumdaradum @nspwriteups @thegleamingmoon @ragalata @rapunzels-stuff @hollogramhallucination give me your honest opinions

#ponniyin selvan #arulmozhi #aditha karikalan #kundavai #vandiyadevan #ponniyan selvan #nandini #vanathi

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thirst4light · 10 months

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In Memoriam

This is my first try at Vanmozhi Fanfiction. Inspired from the PS 2 movie scene. Planning to do a two part follow-up of this prologue. Let me know what you think!

Prologue

'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.’ (In Memoriam A. H. H., 27.13-17)

The sky of Thanjavur was strangely grey on a Vaikasi afternoon as the people waited for their beloved crown prince, Aditha Karikalan, to come home.

Only this time, there was no line of excited girls, wearing their best sarees, chattering away with their aarti thali on the steps of majestic Thanjavur fort, waiting to catch a glimpse of their handsome prince.

Instead, a grief-stricken royal family waited patiently. Chakrvarthi and the young prince, Ponniyin Selvan were waiting at the front, while the women of the royal family waited behind.

Slightly behind the royal family, Kodombalur Ilavarasi Vanathi was also waiting along with other royal women, looking over the sea of the people that gathered at the outer court of the fort. Since last night, as the news of the prince’s death spread, people kept coming from all corners of the Cholanadu.

While Vanathi waited, she thought of everything and nothing.

Such a contrast, Vanathi reflected, looking at the grey sky briefly before her gaze settled on the royal family who were clad in pristine white, a decorum when someone in the family passes away.

As if even the sky was mourning along with this family.

Vanathi’s thoughts got interrupted as people’s clamour suddenly increased, making her focus at the entry gate of the fort.

Finally, Aditha Karikalan had arrived in Thanjavur.

In the city where he grew up. In the city where he belongs.

A long procession of regiment came by foot, closely followed by the prince's beloved horse regiment, waving the chola flag.

From where she was standing, Vanathi could see the chariot carrying the prince’s body from a distance, closely flanked by his trusted fighting companions, Manamalyan, Parthibendran and Vanthiyadevan; not leaving their beloved prince’s side, even in death.

As the chariot slowly moved across the crowd, Vanathi could hear muffled cries while some people started to shower flower petals at the chariot, a sign of their last respect to their Ilavarase. A section of the crowd even started to tussle with the guards to touch the chariot and pray.

It took a long time for the guards to clear the way for the chariot to cross the short distance of the entry gate to the steps of the fort.

When the chariot carrying the prince's body finally stopped in front of the fort stairs, there was a momentary pause among the royal family members.

As if they could not believe what they were seeing.

The ailing Chakravarty was the first to break down as he could not support his weight anymore. Ponniyin Selvan gripped his father tightly, making sure his father could come down the stairs to meet his beloved elder son.

Raṇi varataṭcaṇai Sembiyan Mahadevi, Rani Vanavan Mahadevi, Iliya Piratti slowly started to walk behind the Chakravarty to meet their nephew, son and brother, Aditha Karikalan, one last time. Vanathi followed them as well, her steps heavy with grief.

As everyone in the family huddled at the front of the chariot and tried to caress the beloved prince’s face, the cries of the Chakravarti and Rani were the most heart-breaking. Vanathi, who was standing at the end of the chariot, could not take it anymore. She bowed her head, closed her eyes to drown out the sound of cries and desperately put her hands together in prayer.

Ishvara, may the Ilavarase join you in heaven. And…And give my beloved royal family and the people of Cholanadu the strength to overcome this difficult time.

Vanathi stayed still for a few minutes, hoping the cries had subdued. As she opened her eyes, she knew that her attempt at focusing on praying was futile.

But she had to try.

In desperation, her eyes searched for the only face that could give her strength at this moment.

As her eyes landed on Ponniyin Selvan’s face, Vanathi realized, despite being such a pillar of strength to his father, the young prince could not hold himself together anymore.

His face contorted with unspeakable grief; tears were streaming down his eyes continuously.

Vanathi had endured loss in various forms from a very young age. Her mother’s death, even though she had never met her, had left a deep wound in her childhood. Then her father’s death at Ilankai war, leaving her as an orphan in this cruel world. Then bidding farewell to her only father like figure uncle Periya Velar before every war, not knowing whether he would return alive from them was always tantamount to loss for her….Yet, no pain of these losses compared to the pain of seeing her beloved Ponniyin Selvan grieving at this moment.

Until this point, Vanathi did not realize that she had been crying along with everyone else. But seeing her Ponniyin Selvan break down like this, fresh tears blocked her vision completely. Her heart felt so heavy that for a moment she felt like she could not breathe anymore.

Wiping her tears with pallu, Vanathi took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

As the guards started to move to take the chariot away for cremation, on a whim, Vanathi decided to come at the front of the chariot and touch Ilavarase Aditha Karikalan’s feet, seeking blessings.

An opportunity she never had before.

While she looked at the crown prince’s resting face one last time, Vanathi realized, in death, Aditha Karikalan had finally found his peace.

The peace that he had been searching for a long time.

Tagging my enablers who I have on my profile: @harinishivaa @nspwriteups @balladedutempsjadis @celestesinsight @thelekhikawrites @reeeereeeereeereee @whippersnappersbookworm @sambaridli

Feel free to tag others/reblog if you like :)

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