Every summer vacation while growing up was spent at my grandparents place. My grandfather although not a Tamilian was obsessed with the language to such an extent that he watched TV series, heard Tamil songs on his radio and even read Thuglak (Tamil magazine) until he passed away a couple of years ago. To him, Tamil was always the sweetest language and to prove his point he used to translate a couple of poems written by Tiruvalluvar. While dating my then boyfriend (now husband), I constantly heard of two famous Tamil poets. One, Bharathiyar and the second was Tiruvalluvar. But it was only now that I actually had the chance to read translated poems by the legendary Valluvar. I finally understand the sweetness his words carry.

I think no one else could have translated this book of poems better than @k.a.n.d.a.s.a.m.y . Tiruvalluvar‘s lovely words bloom in her translation. Another interesting aspect of this book is its wonderful introduction where Kandasamy introduces us to Tamil history, culture and language. Tirukkural originally is a text of 1,330 couplets but The Book of Desire includes only the last section of this work which includes mostly love and desire.

Where do I start about how beautiful this book is? As Tiruvalluvar writes about love, sulking, pleasure, longing and sensuality, it’s easy to drown in his words. They’re soft and oh-so sweet. I ended up having so many favourite kurals, each lovelier than the other. If there ever was a poem dedicated to love and all that comes with it, this is the one. I’m so glad I had the chance to read this iconic piece of literature with ease.

I highly recommend this to everyone. Thank you for the copy @penguinindia ✨