Free THE MAGICAL PALACE by Kunal Mukjerjee Page A

Hyderabad Royal Academy and felt completely out of place and had been my best friend for over a year. Lately, though, he seemed to be more irritable than usual, especially during the exams.
    As they waved and left, my mouth tasted funny—metallic and salty. I slowly unclenched my jaws and picked up my school box and walked to the bus. My mind was a flurry of crazy thoughts, nothing made sense. But of one thing I was certain—I had never felt this way before, not for Amit Puri, not even for Rajesh Khanna. My scalp and skin still tingled where Shubho had touched me.
    The bus wheezed and groaned all the way to my stop. I jumped out, barely waiting for it to stop moving.
    ‘Happy hols!’ my friends yelled at me.
    ‘Happy hols!’ I yelled back.
    My father was home early that day. I walked in, an extra spring in my step, ready for the holidays.
    ‘So how did you fare today? Will you come first this year?’ my father asked.
    ‘Very well,’ I replied, feeling my euphoria drain.
    ‘Come, eat. The food is getting cold. I have made your favourite tuar dal,’ Mother said, and I realized I was very hungry.
    ‘Maybe you will grow taller if you eat lots of dal,’ Rani teased.
    I smiled back at her. I had not felt so good in a while—I was thinking of Shubho, his warm smile.
    ‘So when are we going to watch Aradhana ?’ I asked, my mind turning to Rajesh Khanna films as usual. I had watched it once already, but I wanted to watch that scene again, where he serenades Sharmila Tagore as the little mountain train winds its way up towards the top of the range. Rajesh Khanna hangs perilously from the side of the jeep, mouth organ in hand singing: ‘ Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu …’ Queen of my dreams, when will you come to me?
    ‘Why go for it again? We just watched it,’ my father said.
    ‘Well … because …’ I was stumped. Here was that complication again. I did not want to tell him that I thought about Rajesh Khanna all the time. The memory of my punishment at the hands of Mr Swaminathan was still fresh in my mind and I would rather die than talk about my fantasies. It wasn’t fair, I thought. I yearned to be older so that I would not need my father’s permission to do anything! As soon as I could, I ran to the garden and to myspecial hiding place, wishing I could run away altogether and forget about school and rules.
    I heard Rani calling me from the swings. ‘Rahul, I have a surprise for you.’
    I climbed down from the tree and crawled out from behind the thick underbrush, breathless and covered with twigs. But I knew that my secret hiding place was still safe.
    ‘What is it, Rani?’ I asked suspiciously.
    ‘Go get me some nimbu pani from the fridge first,’ Rani ordered. ‘Then I will tell you. It is a surprise.’ She sat down on the stone bench.
    Carrying a glass carefully from the palace, I walked out to the lawn where Rani was waiting, tapping her foot impatiently.
    ‘Good, I am glad you are back. The surprise is that Mallika Didi is coming here and we can all go watch a film together,’ Rani finally said. ‘Binesh Kaku has to go out for some business and he can drop us off at the theatre. He just called Baba to set it up.’
    I set the tray down on the bench and said excitedly, ‘When is Mallika Didi coming?’
    ‘Right now. Now let me finish my drink in peace. You can go get dressed.’
    I ran back to the palace, thrilled. I hoped it would be a film showing at the festival showcasing all of Rajesh Khanna’s hits from the very beginning of his career, starting with the film Aakhri Khat . Each film was showing for a full week.
    Binesh Kaku arrived shortly after. We all piled into the car, Shyamala, Rani and I sitting together in the back.
    ‘Oh, I am so excited about going to see Kati Patang at Roxie!’ Mallika exclaimed, turning around and leaning towards us through the gap between the front seats. Roxiewas one of the new film theatres in Hyderabad and the location where the Rajesh Khanna