Stories, journeys,
music, films and the things that make life interesting
I am Susmita
Mukherjee, a Kolkata-based Indian author, poet, traveller and lifelong
observer of people, places and the many stories hidden within everyday life.
I have always been
drawn to stories not only the ones found between the pages of a book, but also
those unfolding around us. A conversation overheard on a train. An old
neighbourhood changing with time. A meal that carries the taste of childhood. A
rainy afternoon in Kolkata. A journey that begins as a search for a place and
ends with an unexpected encounter. A concert that leaves you thinking long
after the final note. A play that makes you look differently at something you
thought you understood. A film that stays in your mind well after the credits.
Often, it is these
moments that make life memorable. That is what I try to bring to my writing.
What you will find
here
This website
brings together many of my interests: travel, literature, books, music,
theatre, cinema, cultural events and the arts.
You will find
travel stories and destination guides alongside reflections on books, literary
life and writing. I also write about musical performances, concerts, theatre
productions, films and cultural events, sharing my impressions of the
experience, the artistry and the ideas that remain with me afterwards.
Some posts are
practical and useful helping you decide where to go, what to see or how to make
the most of a destination. Others are more reflective: a response to a book, a
performance, a film, a place or a moment that caught my attention.
The common thread
is simple: curiosity. I like discovering something new and then asking
what makes it worth noticing.
A life shaped by
many worlds
My own journey has
taken me through several different worlds. I completed my primary schooling at Neutral
Bay Public School in Sydney, Australia, before returning to Kolkata, where
I studied at Gokhale Memorial Girls' School and Gokhale Memorial Girls'
College.
My professional
life has been equally varied. I have worked as a teacher at Army Public
School and spent more than two decades in areas including IT education,
counselling, coordination, corporate communications and hospitality education.
Working with
people from different professions, generations and social backgrounds has
perhaps been one of my greatest informal educations. It has taught me to pay
attention to how people speak, what they leave unsaid, how they respond to
difficult circumstances, and how much of a person's story can be contained
within an apparently ordinary day. Those observations eventually found their
way into my fiction.
Writing fiction,
poetry and the human story
My fiction
explores labour, resilience, displacement, family and the complicated
tenderness of human relationships. I am particularly interested in ordinary
lives and the emotional landscapes beneath them, the struggles that may never
become news, the choices people make when circumstances leave them little room,
and the relationships that alter us in ways we may not immediately understand.
My work has
appeared in publications including Indian Literature published by
Sahitya Akademi, Muse India, Fractured Lit, Sky Island Journal,
Kitaab International, Setu, Fictive Dream, Flash
Fiction Magazine, Literary Yard, Intrepidus Ink, Nanum
Magazine, BULL Lit Mag, Epistemic Literary Magazine, Gulmohur
Quarterly, Literally Stories, Shabdodweep Web Magazine and
other literary publications.
My short story “Fuchka
Geometry” won Second Place in the Inkspot Short Story Competition
2025–26, judged by UK literary agent Kate Nash. I have also received Second
Prize in the 3 Minute Arts Story Writing Competition 2025–26 and Second
Place in a Flash Fiction Magazine contest.
My debut poetry
collection, When the Earth Sang of Us: A Meditation on Love, Life and
Nature, was published by BookLeaf Publishing and is available
internationally. Available also on
Music, theatre,
cinema and the arts
The arts have
always been part of my life. I am a trained classical vocalist and hold
a diploma in Multimedia. I have also studied painting and explored
screenwriting. These different creative disciplines have shaped the way I look
at stories, performances and visual narratives.
Music has a
particularly personal place in my life. I enjoy classical music as well as
other forms of music, and I am fascinated by the atmosphere and artistry of a
live performance. On this website, I share my responses to concerts and
musical events, not simply reviewing the technical aspects of a
performance, but also considering the emotion, interpretation, setting and
connection between performer and audience.
I am equally drawn
to theatre and cinema. A good play can transform a familiar human
conflict through the immediacy of a live stage. A well-made film can create an
entire world in two hours. I enjoy examining performances, storytelling,
direction, cinematography, music and the emotional ideas that make a production
work or occasionally make it fall short.
My film and
theatre writing is therefore not intended to be a collection of star ratings. I
prefer to explore what a work is trying to say, how successfully it says it,
and what remains with the viewer after the curtain falls or the screen goes
dark.
Travel: more than
destinations
I love travelling not
simply to collect destinations, but to understand them. I like noticing the
details that give a place its character: its food, streets, architecture,
history, landscapes, people and everyday rhythms. A destination becomes
memorable for me when it acquires a human story.
That is why my
travel writing is not intended merely to tell you where to go. I want to
explore why a place is worth experiencing, what makes it distinctive, what
you can do there, and what might stay with you after you leave.
Beyond the page
Writing is only
one part of my creative life. Music, literature, painting, cinema, theatre and
travel constantly intersect in the way I see the world. Sometimes an old song
suggests a story. A film may make me think about a character differently. A
journey may provide the setting for a piece of fiction. A theatre performance
may send me home thinking about a question I had never considered before.
Perhaps that is
why I don't like keeping my interests in separate compartments. For me, art,
travel and storytelling are conversations with one another.
Why I write
I write because
ordinary life contains more stories than we realise. A worker returning home
after a long day. A family negotiating an old hurt. Someone beginning again in
an unfamiliar city. A traveller discovering something unexpected in a familiar
landscape. A musician standing before an audience. An actor inhabiting someone
else's life for an evening. A filmmaker trying to make us see the familiar
differently. These moments may appear small, but they can contain an entire
world. Through my writing, I hope to notice some of them and give them the
attention they deserve.
Come travel, read,
listen and watch with me
Whether you have
arrived here looking for a place to visit, a book to read, a concert or theatre
production to discover, a film to consider, a cultural event to attend, or
simply a few moments away from the rush of everyday life, I hope you find
something here that interests you.
Read a story.
Enjoy a poem. Discover a place. Listen to music. Watch a film. Go to the
theatre. Take a journey. Notice the ordinary.
And perhaps,
somewhere along the way, find a story of your own.
Follow Susmita
Mukherjee
X · Facebook ·
Instagram · WordPress . Susmita Blogs
0 Comments