The Hindu : New Delhi News : A literary speech by Vaiko

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Sunday, Dec 23, 2007
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A literary speech by Vaiko

J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI: It was an entirely different role for MDMK general secretary Vaiko at the Delhi Tamil Sangam on Friday.

He was asked to give a literary speech on ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, a Tamil historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The speech was organised by ‘Vadakku Vassal’, a Tamil monthly magazine. Mr. Vaiko kept the audience spell-bound for over 100 minutes.

Ponniyin Selvan narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned as Rajaraja Chola). Ponniyin Selvan (Ponni’s son) dealt with the fortunes of the Chola Empire during the 10th century. It is a romantic story, which has real historical characters and incidents. Mr. Vaiko said Kalki depicted valour, love, romance, affection and patriotism in his novel. He compared him with great authors like Alexander Dumas and said that each chapter had a message in it.

Mr. Vaiko later told The Hindu that he had given literary lectures in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere. It showed that people came in large numbers not just for political meetings.

He released a Tamil book Nimira Vaikkum Nellai written by advocate K.S. Radhakrishnan. The first copy was handed over to the Editor of Vadakku Vaasal, Yathartha K. Penneswaran. Writer P.A. Krishnan, and the president of Delhi Tamil Sangam, M.K. Krishnamani were among those who spoke.

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