THE MAGICAL PALACE (42 page)
My sister Alaka—for her support and good wishes.
Linda Watanabe McFerrin—my ‘angel-muse’ and guide who saw the potential of this novel in a short essay I wrote as a class assignment. Without Linda’s unwavering vision and mentorship, I would never have written this story.
V.K. Karthika, Publisher of HarperCollins India—for her expert guidance, vision and commitment to a quality product.
Pradipta Sarkar—for her editorial support and partnership.
Ann Kircher, Carol Jauch, Unity Barry, Joanne Stein—for co-founding Writing Out Loud, a writing group, ten years ago and providing me the kind of steady literary support structure that most writers yearn for, but few experience.
Nidhi Singh and Karen Llagas—for their intuitive and unique perspective over the years. Nidhi Singh’s dedication to this project from the very start and her superb editorial feedback were both invaluable.
My aunt Indrani Mukherjee—for her enthusiasm and passion for this story that kept me going. She has always been a powerful influence in my life and continues to be so, and for that I am eternally grateful.
My dear cousins, specially Deepanjali and Neelanjana—for steadily cheering me on and connecting me with creative professionals.
Anne Woods, Diane O’Connell, Vivian Groman, Byron Russell—for contributing to the manuscript and supporting me in so many ways.
My coaches, guides and fellow course-mates at Landmark Corporation—for giving me possibility.
Daniel, Nathan and Allen—for your commitment to the fulfillment of my dreams.
And to my extended family members (you know who you are)—for your contribution to my life and creative endeavours. Please forgive me for not mentioning you all by name. This project is a testament to your enthusiasm and faith in my dreams.
Originally from West Bengal,
Kunal Mukherjee
is a San Francisco-based poet and writer. He holds a Master’s degree in Physics, has done postgraduate work in Energy Studies and has worked as a restaurateur and an IT manager. His passions include acting, music, travel, the environment and animals. Kunal’s work has appeared in
India Currents, Hot Flashes: Sexy Little Stories and Poems
and
Hot Flashes 2. My Magical Palace
is his first novel and he is currently working on his second novel.
Connect with Kunal at
www.kunalmukherjee.com
to read about his creative works.
Praise for the Book
‘This is a simple story simply told. It is like watching a 1970’s Hindi movie. Only, it is all true and all gay. I relived my youth. You will too.’
– Hoshang Merchant, author of
The Man Who Would Be Queen
‘In
My Magical Palace
, Kunal Mukherjee captures, with exquisite detail, the world of post-partition India and the political and social tension that colours and constricts the lives of a family confronted with shifts in tradition. He gives us a young hero whose adolescent angst reflects the confusion of a place and time when long-drawn boundaries—physical, political, racial, and sexual are in the midst of drastic transition.’
– Linda Watanabe McFerrin, author of
Namako: Sea Cucumber
and
The Hand of Buddha
‘Kunal Mukherjee’s prose is very lush and yet at the same time very clear: I admire these qualities, particularly the clarity, and I congratulate him. Also, I appreciate how he takes us to a very particular place, not just geographically but socially—the way he evokes the networks of family, the surrounding penumbra of history and culture. I was drawn along …’
– Tamim Ansary, author of
West of Kabul,
East of New York
‘I am a great admirer of Kunal Mukherjee … He’s a very poetic writer with a lovely literary style, has wonderful characters, a beautiful setting, an exotic (to American readers) culture, all brought to life in an interesting way …’
– Alan Rinzler, Executive Editor, Jossey-Bass/
John Wiley & Sons, Founding Editor,
Rolling Stone
First published in India in 2012 by
HarperCollins
Publishers
India
a joint venture with
The India Today Group
Copyright © Kunal Mukherjee 2012
ISBN: 978-93-5029-119-1
Epub Edition © June 2012 ISBN: 9789350294710
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Kunal Mukherjee
asserts the moral right to be identified
as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Publishers
India.
Cover illustration: Samaresh
Cover design: Mugdha Sadhwani
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Publishers
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