When I started translating Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan in 2010, blissfully unaware of the depth and the magnitude of the work, several people tried to dissuade me. One potential publisher even lured me with an offer to translate another work of Kalki. Reason: there were already many translations around. Yes, there were. But most of them, though done with utmost sincerity, failed to create the emotional bond with the readers which the original author had effortlessly done in the Fifties when Ponniyin Selvan was serialised in a popular magazine. I did not rush up. I did not have a target or deadline. I let the translation work progress in its own pace. That explains the six long years I spent for this project. I read and re-read the first draft a dozen times before handing it over to my editors. There were many points of contention. There were issues where we could not reach a consensus easily. Finally the hard copy was ready for publication in 2016. The publisher had jitters and so did I. We got ready rough copies of two volumes. I gave it to two of my friends, who had read the original more than sixty times, with a mandate to read them in one go. They did and said “This is the best you can do in English.” The work culminated not when the book was released by a former Central Minister in 2016, not even when it went for three editions but when an ardent fan of Kalki sent a mail to me in 2019. “It was as if Kalki himself rendered his great work in English.”

An engineer by profession, Karthik Narayanan (1938) was born in Calcutta and had his early education in Tuticorin. He is an industrialist and heads companies that manufacture automobile components. He has occupied a number of important positions like the President of the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, President of the Automobile Research Association of India, Chairman of the Southern Region of the Association of Indian Engineering Industry, Member of the Senate of the Annamalai University. Steeped in South Indian history, its arts and culture, KN is an avid reader of all the novels “Kalki” wrote, and is an accomplished player o of the percussion instrument the mridangam. KN is also an enthusiastic traveller, trekking in Himalayas being a favourite hobby. Married to Uma who is an accomplished translator of French and Tamil books and Managing Trustee of the SOS Children's Villages of India-Chatnath Homes and the Karna Prayag Trust, KN has a son Ramgopal, daughter Gayathri and a granddaughter Niveditha.

An engineer by profession, Karthik Narayanan (1938) was born in Calcutta and had his early education in Tuticorin. He is an industrialist and heads companies that manufacture automobile components. He has occupied a number of important positions like the President of the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, President of the Automobile Research Association of India, Chairman of the Southern Region of the Association of Indian Engineering Industry, Member of the Senate of the Annamalai University. Steeped in South Indian history, its arts and culture, KN is an avid reader of all the novels “Kalki” wrote, and is an accomplished player o of the percussion instrument the mridangam. KN is also an enthusiastic traveller, trekking in Himalayas being a favourite hobby. Married to Uma who is an accomplished translator of French and Tamil books and Managing Trustee of the SOS Children's Villages of India-Chatnath Homes and the Karna Prayag Trust, KN has a son Ramgopal, daughter Gayathri and a granddaughter Niveditha.

When I started translating Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan in 2010, blissfully unaware of the depth and the magnitude of the work, several people tried to dissuade me. One potential publisher even lured me with an offer to translate another work of Kalki. Reason: there were already many translations around. Yes, there were. But most of them, though done with utmost sincerity, failed to create the emotional bond with the readers which the original author had effortlessly done in the Fifties when Ponniyin Selvan was serialised in a popular magazine. I did not rush up. I did not have a target or deadline. I let the translation work progress in its own pace. That explains the six long years I spent for this project. I read and re-read the first draft a dozen times before handing it over to my editors. There were many points of contention. There were issues where we could not reach a consensus easily. Finally the hard copy was ready for publication in 2016. The publisher had jitters and so did I. We got ready rough copies of two volumes. I gave it to two of my friends, who had read the original more than sixty times, with a mandate to read them in one go. They did and said “This is the best you can do in English.” The work culminated not when the book was released by a former Central Minister in 2016, not even when it went for three editions but when an ardent fan of Kalki sent a mail to me in 2019. “It was as if Kalki himself rendered his great work in English.”

When I started translating Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan in 2010, blissfully unaware of the depth and the magnitude of the work, several people tried to dissuade me. One potential publisher even lured me with an offer to translate another work of Kalki. Reason: there were already many translations around. Yes, there were. But most of them, though done with utmost sincerity, failed to create the emotional bond with the readers which the original author had effortlessly done in the Fifties when Ponniyin Selvan was serialised in a popular magazine. I did not rush up. I did not have a target or deadline. I let the translation work progress in its own pace. That explains the six long years I spent for this project. I read and re-read the first draft a dozen times before handing it over to my editors. There were many points of contention. There were issues where we could not reach a consensus easily. Finally the hard copy was ready for publication in 2016. The publisher had jitters and so did I. We got ready rough copies of two volumes. I gave it to two of my friends, who had read the original more than sixty times, with a mandate to read them in one go. They did and said “This is the best you can do in English.” The work culminated not when the book was released by a former Central Minister in 2016, not even when it went for three editions but when an ardent fan of Kalki sent a mail to me in 2019. “It was as if Kalki himself rendered his great work in English.”

Whirlwinds, the exciting second part of Kalki R Krishnamurthy's historic magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, our hero Vallavarayan Vandhiyathevan's adventures continue as he rides into marshy quagmires, befriends a mysterious girl, becomes the object of intense suspicion by the wily Pazhuvettarayars - and meets the hero of his dreams. Meanwhile, Kundhavai Piratti, princess of the Chozha empire is thrown into confusion and outrage, while the beautiful but poisonous Nandhini Devi weaves more deceitful webs to ensnare her enemies. She will stop at nothing to bring about the downfall of the Chozhas ... but will the scions of that royal clan escape in time? Read on to find out as the epic continues.