Soumi Mukherjee

There’s something magical about Sundays. They’ve evolved from bustling adventures in my 20s to cozy, reflective moments in my 30s. Today, as I sip a warm cup of tea, I can’t help but reflect on how travel has been the canvas on which my personal growth is painted.

In my 20s, life was a whirlwind of journeys. Weekends meant hopping on trains from Ingolstadt to Munich, Würzburg to Tuttlingen, and later to Augsburg. Visiting my best friend, sharing homemade meals, and relishing spontaneous detours were my routine. Travel wasn’t just about the destinations; it was my escape, my purpose, and my way of seeking connection.

Moving back to India was a bold chapter—uncertain yet thrilling. I chased dreams fueled by hope, companionship, and the comfort of family. While not everything unfolded as planned, life had its own beautiful surprises. I discovered soulful cafes tucked away in bustling streets, met kindred spirits, and rekindled old friendships that now fill my travel diaries with laughter and memories.

Now, at 35, my journeys are infused with mindfulness. I travel not to escape but to embrace. Each trip, whether wandering through Mumbai’s vibrant Colaba markets or standing in awe at New Zealand’s Milford Sound, mirrors my growth. Fitness routines keep me agile for new adventures, and gratitude anchors me amidst life’s ever-changing landscapes.

My bucket list is a tapestry of dreams: sipping coffee in Bali’s quaint cafés, swaying to jazz in Japan, savoring crepes along Parisian boulevards, chasing the Northern Lights again, and driving through Iceland’s breathtaking roads. Each destination isn’t just a place on the map—it’s a chapter in my story.

As I cherish slow, peaceful Sundays, I realize that travel isn’t just about exploring the world. It’s about discovering oneself. And with every sunrise in a new city and every quiet evening at home, I come back richer—with stories, lessons, and a heart full of gratitude.

Here’s to the journeys that shape us and the Sundays that remind us of how far we’ve come.

A Sunday to Remember: Finding Peace in Ulluwatu

Two weeks ago, I experienced a Sunday that etched itself into my heart. Alongside a bubbly new friend, I ventured to a cliffhouse in the breathtaking Ulluwatu. While she dashed off for a run, I found myself mesmerized by a serene, beautiful swimming pool facing the vast expanse of the sea. Taking a deep dive beneath the water, the moment I resurfaced to face the endless blue, tranquility enveloped me—a gift from the universe for which I remain profoundly grateful.

The cliff's edge showcased magnificent rocks, where the green tint met the blue sea, blending seamlessly into the golden sands below. Upon my friend's return, we descended to a wooden podium adorned with yoga mats, nestled within the cliffhouse. Refreshing water and cool, damp towels greeted us as we prepared for a Vinyasa yoga session led by a spirited young Australian woman. Surrounded by enthusiastic young men and women from Australia, I immersed myself in the flow of movements, breathing in the crisp, clean air.

The rhythmic sound of waves intertwined with my steady breath, creating a meditative symphony. The weather danced between sunny and cloudy, with golden rays piercing through the clouds, kissing our faces with warmth. Practicing yoga in this open space, with the sea as our backdrop, etched an indelible memory into the canvas of my mind.

Post-session, we indulged in coffee and breakfast. Whether it was the taste of the food or the magic lingering in the air, that meal remains unforgettable.

Now, every Sunday, as I settle into my small veranda, cradling a cup of freshly brewed coffee, my mind drifts back to that extraordinary Sunday in Ulluwatu. A moment that continues to take my breath away.

We, as Indians have a rich history of reusing things that are being thrown away as waste. One small example would be the old cloths being used as rags to clean the floors. Instead of buying mason jars to store food grains, most of the household women would reuse the glass jam or marmalade  jars. Sometimes we would not even throw away the beautiful tin cookie or sweet boxes that we get on Dusshera or Diwali. Instead we would use them again to store some more cookies. The 2 litre Pepsi bottles are always reused to store water, until it is not at all usable.

These small efforts that we put everyday may seem like insignificant acts but are actually contributing a lot in saving waste that we create. The bigger the GDP of a country is, the more likely it is of producing trash. This goes well for the countries like U.S, China, Germany, U.K and Japan. India, though has the 7th largest economy, is the one producing much trash due to its large population.  Even  though the carbon footprint per person in India is 1.8 tonnes which is much lesser than the global average of 4.2 tonnes, there is still a steady growth of CO2 emission from India. Production and incineration of plastic of different forms consumes a large amount of resources. So it is again time to go back to the days when preserving and reusing were the trends. So here is a list of things each of us can perhaps do to reduce our dependency on any kind of plastic products(in an Indian way) • Vetiver Scrub for bathing instead of Loofah • A steel or a copper jug instead of a plastic bottle • How about a cutting chai in a glass or an earthen cup? • Well handkerchief is still very common in India, let's keep it up. Westerners have given up that concept. • Buying fresh and local fruits and vegetables instead of frozen ones • Eating local and seasonal • Carrying cloth bags than asking for plastic bags at shops

Small effort that we put at our homes can bring major changes in our lives as well as in our society.

Bhagavad Gita Ch:16 Verse 3

Vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, absence of hatred, and absence of pride - these belong to the one born in a Divine State, O Bharata.

The Holy Quran  Surat Ash-Shura 42:43

Whoever is patient and forgives, verily, that is among the matters of steadfast determination.

The Holy Bible Matthew 6:14,15

14. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji

“To practice forgiveness is fasting, good conduct and contentment” — Guru Arjan Dev, page 223

“Where there is forgiveness, there God resides” — Kabir, page 137

So I have been given a time. A time to stop, to stay where I am, and to introspect myself. I have been given this time because I have been running a rat race for the last 27 years of my life. All of it was important, because all this while, I have been given a medium to express it (writing of course), and very recently I have been given the right knowledge to introspect. I have taken a break from my studies, from my career, the second sabbatical so far. This time, I don’t intend to read many books, but to write down the thoughts I have. 

The problem with our minds is that when we are fed with so much of information, we feel overburdened. We don’t know how to streamline these data. So I decided to give them a shape, in the form of essays or blogs (whatever you like to call it).

Recently I understood the importance of solitude. Some people like to call it loneliness. All of us like to be surrounded by people, because we can talk, listen, share our problems and get their piece of mind. Most of us have best friends, who are like our soulmates, while others have their spouse. We emotionally depend on them. And this dependence comes with fear, the fear of loss. ‘What would happen if my friend gets a better job or move to a different city? What if Iget divorced? How will I survive without him?’... We all dwell in this fear-endorsed emotions. 

And then come this another set of people, who are alone even being in the crowd. They are lost in their own cozy world. They speak to thousands of people but are still looking for that one right person in their lives. And then they make a general overview that no one is this world is genuine. 

I have been a part of both of these worlds. I was naive when I was younger, I tried to control people and situation, both of which were out of my control. I was afraid of losing them, I was afraid to fall. And when there were spans of loneliness, I felt I needed a better person in my life. Through this very conflict in my mind, I came across a third road, the placard of which read: “You don’t need to be with anyone”. I was afraid to see this... but I was curious at the same time. I knew that this path has some difficult constraints to adhere to. I decided to give it a chance. I decided to train myself to be alone. Now the question was what do you do when you are alone? I started with self-inquiry.

The problem with the world is that all of us know about others and there lives, but none of us look into ourselves. And I believe people should invest a lot of time to know themselves: who they are? what they actually love to do?. There is an inner voice in all of us, that which calls us to be different, to do things we actually like to do, and not what everyone else is doing, that which wants us to be happy; but unfortunately non of us listen to this voice within us. So to listen to it, you need to stop indulging into the matters of others, and you need time. The time which I am in, the time which has been given to me to quench my thurst for knowledge, to know myself better, to hunt down all the information I need to enrich my database, and then give it a shape.

So I don’t describe this time as the period of inactivity or stagnation. I don’t look at it as a time I am wasting, I look at it as a period to find myself, to reveal the inner dimensions of my mind, to understand what makes me free, what makes me happy. And when I found this happiness inside, I realized that I am no more alone, or I don’t need anyone else to be happy, or to be complete. Because I am happy and I am complete.

I wonder how three years of my life went by. It feels like just yesterday that I arrived at this little town in the jungles of East Germany. Never ever did I hear about this place before. And I had absolutely no idea about what my future in Germany would be like. But sometimes it's good not to know everything. Then you have the scope of getting a surprise at each step. My relationship with this place just started like that. Back in the year 2014, i was still overcoming the agony of my separation with Delhi, my birthplace. And in parallel, I was overwhelmed by the idea of moving outside India. That year the Durga puja just ended with my arrival in Ilmenau. The sudden quietness of this place was awkward. I was not at all habituated. That cacophony of a large city was gone.  It took me no time to get adapted to this city. Initially I found it to exhaustive to climb up the hills. But in my heart, I was happy that I didn't need to exercise separately to lose some extra kilos. This one walk uphill was good enough to keep me in shape. I started loving this small hill station. I made friends: Indians,Germans, Spanish and so many others. But there were two who become closer to my heart. One was my Kenyan girlfriend, Maryanne. I don't remember how we met, but we got along very well. I visited the city church every Sunday with her. And later I found my bestie here, Usama. My friendship with him is a story in itself. Maryanne left in 2015, as she had completed her term as a social server in Germany. I missed her a lot. I miss her even today. But Usama quickly filled up that void.

So it’s been a while I wrote about my travelling days. Till now I have roamed about in almost eight European countries, Germany being my base. I have collect memoirs of the cities, their enigmatic presence in the history of Europe, the culture and their lifestyle. Each country has its own story to tell, has its own charm to offer. I missed out writing a lot due to my over-working nature and engagements with my “Masterarbeit”. So this time on a friend’s request, I thought to revive my own creativity over this piece of article on my latest travel to Holland.

Last week I and my friend decided to invest our European summer time in Holland. We hadn’t travelled since the New Year has started. And summers in Europe is a delightful time to explore the corners of this continent. Amsterdam was the best option we had. But let’s say that this was not the only destination we had in our mind. We planned to visit Hamburg, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. All the three cities are connected to the huge water bodies of the North Atlantic Ocean. While Hamburg and Rotterdam are the port cities, Amsterdam is much like Venice.

So on a fine Sunday morning, we took a bus to Hamburg. Days are quite long, but in Germany Sundays are holidays. So we explored Hamburg in quite a different way. It was raining and we chose to walk in the rain and explore the pedestrian view.  The lake in the heart of the city and the queue of trees, the lamps on both sides of the road awed me. And their perfectly hazy reflections on the road added to the beauty. Perhaps this is the best way to see Hamburg. At night we visit the well-known red light area of Germany-Ripperbahn. This place was one of its kind, as I hadn’t visit any such place before. The street started with dance bars on both sides and followed by sex shops and gun shops. The restaurants had open bars serving liquor and shows of few men and performing live.  The crimson hue of the street clarified the notoriety of this place.

 The next morning we started walking from one end of the city. The botanical gardens called ‘Planten un Blumen’ has preserved a wide variety of plants, even from tropical, sub-tropical and dessert areas of the world. Throughout the garden, the flowers were in lush. The colors were varied and the fragrance was in the air. We walked past the beautiful gardens and across the lush green grounds full of trees and a flowing pond of water. The sun shined to make that moment so bright. We dragged two wooden arm-chairs, bathed in the sun and planned out our next set of destinations.

In the evening we reached the harbor. The place where the city met the sea and at the edge stood a beautiful architecture called Elbphilharmonie. We went up on it to watch the scenic beauty of the conjunction of the land and water.  On the other side of the river lied the harbor. And we could see the long big cranes pulling up and loading the cargos.  We came down and walked past the river. Many old ships have been decked and they were serving as museums and restaurants. And then we came across a round monument. It was named Elbtunnel. So it is one of the oldest under water tunnel that was built and opened in the year 1911. The history of this tunnel is quite interesting and tells about how the industrial revolution brought about the need for speed and ease of transportation.

Our time in Hamburg was coming to an end, when we realized that Hamburg actually gave us a different experience, which was not typical German. We took the night bus and landed in the city of canals, Amsterdam. Amsterdam welcomed us with a warm climate with some patches of rain. In the morning we visited VanGogh museum, storing and exhibiting the paintings of famous 19th century Dutch artist Vincent VanGogh. However, we got quickly bored as we planned nothing much to see. Our host for the night betrayed us with a clumsy ugly room that added to our not-so-good experience in Amsterdam. But we quickly reverted and decided to visit the famous red light district of Europe. Amsterdam’s red light area is world famous, and we couldn’t miss it. Women in lingerie displayed their glamour from behind the glass windows. The history of prostitution in Amsterdam is as old as the city itself. It started when traders and sailors started docking their ships for trad in the 1st millennium A.D. and women in the city started offering them services. Since then it has been a cult. Though prostitution has attracted many more social problems like drugs and human trafficking, government has tried exasperatedly to bring it under control. Beneath these shady and infamous streets, the city of Amsterdam has flourished.

Because we had just a day in Amsterdam, we wanted to wisely move around the entire city. What could have been better than a boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam? We traversed through the old streets, where most of the rich traders had their typical Dutch houses, followed by the Anne Frank House and the church of Amsterdam. The canals ended in to a big river that eventually brought us to the end of our boat ride. We quickly move out and ran to the Amsterdam Centraal station to catch the intercity train to Schipol Airport. Well,...it was not to catch the flight ;) Our connecting bus to Keukenhof Gardens started from Schipol bus stop.

Yes the famous Keukenhof gardens that always remind me of the song "Ye kahan aa gaye hum..." starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha and that romantic view with Javed Akhtar's poetry in the background. We wandered across the lush greens of the park and the rainbow of colors. There were tulips of colors that I didn’t even know. They looked like different shades of Pantone, all gathered in one land. I would recommend all the travelers to visit Keukenhof once they are in the Netherlands. After spending a colorful time in one of the most colorful places, we started towards our next and the last spot of our tour- Rotterdam. It took us merely one and half hours from Amsterdam bus station to Rotterdam central station. 

The Dutch are one of the most creative people in the world. And their creativity can be extensively seen in the architecture of Rotterdam. The city of Rotterdam, is much like the German city of Hamburg. It used to be the largest port in the world. To get a glimpse of its map, we decided to climb up the Euromast, the TV tower. The scenic view was beyond my words can describe. The heart of the city is SS Rotterdam, a ship that carried thousands of Europeans to the land of America in the early 50s and 60s, when America was called the ‘The promised land’. The rendezvous with the men of the ship was inspiring. The man who steered the ship was an old fellow in his 70s or 80s probably. He gave us a fine tour across the lowest deck of the ship, the engine rooms. He proudly called the engine to be ‘my engine’.  It was so wide and profound and sustained such a giant, I was in awe. After the decade of 60s, the option of flying became cheaper and convenient, and our beloved SS Rotterdam became a cruise ship for luxurious travel. 

We ended our grand trip inside SS Rotterdam with a grand meal, an aesthetically served platter of fish and chips.

I wanted to end this blog on a very positive note, but the actual adventures started after this very grand meal. A series of unfortunate events dragged us along.

कई साल पहले बहादुर शाह ज़फ़र की शाही हुकूमत हुआ करती थी। सरकारआली का सिक्का चला करता था।तब पाकिस्तान नहीं हुआ करता था।हिंदुस्तान और पाकिस्तान एक ही सरकार में हुआ करते थे।तब सिक्के कुछ ऐसे दिखा करते थे, हुकूमत अपनी ताक़त इन सिक्कों से जमाया करती थीं। 

फिर एक दिन आया और फ़्रान्स की सरकार ने दूर कोने में अपना सिक्का जमा लिया। इस जगह का नाम पोंदिचेरी था।ये इंतहाई ख़ूबसूरत जगह थी जिससे लोग “लिटल फ़्रान्स” के नाम से भी जानते थे।

वक़्त गुज़रता गया और धीरे धीरे हिंदुस्तान का रास्ता नापा। इन्होंने बादशाह सलामत की सरकार की नैया डुबो डाली,और अपना सिक्का जमा दिया। कुछ ऐसे लोग अंग्रेज़ सरकार के सिक्के चलाने लगे।

अंग्रेज़ सरकार ने हिंदुस्तान में क़दम ईस्ट इंडिया कम्पनी के ज़रिए जमाए। फिर इसी नाम से अपने सिक्के चलाने शुरू किए।

सिक्के पर अब बहादुर शाह ज़फ़र की बजाय शाह-ए-इंग्लिस्तान की तस्वीर छपने लगी।

अंग्रेज़ सरकार ने बर्मा तक अपना क़ब्ज़ा कर रखा था जिसे वो “military administration of Burma “कहा करते थे।

बीसवीं सदी के बीच तक अंग्रेज़ सरकार बहोत कमज़ोर पड़ गयी थी, और सिक्कों पर से अंग्रेज बादशाह की सूरत भी मिटने लगी थी।

ये वो ज़माना था जब एक आने की भी बोहोत क़ीमत हुआ करती थी।

वहीं हिंदुस्तान में ये दो आदमी हुआ करते थे।आपस में काफ़ी दोस्ती भी थी।पर चीज़ों पर भूत लड़ा करते थे। एक को भूत अच्छे सूट पहनने का शौक़ था, एक कुछ काम कपड़ों में भी ख़ुश रहा करते थे।इन दोनो ने मिलकर एक रोज़ हिंदुस्तान का नक़्शा ही बदल डाला। 

उस रोज़ हिन्दोस्तान एक नहीं,दो देशों में बँट चुका था। डोनो के अख़बार कुछ इस तरह छपे थे। 

कुछ लोग बोहोत ख़ुश थे और चेहरे उसस रोज़ बोहोत उदास थे।ख़ुशी इस बात की थी के अंग्रेज़ सरकार उस दिन इन्हें आज़ाद छोरके वापस  अपने देश इंग्लिस्तान चली गयी। और उदास इसलिए क्यूँकि उस दिन ये ख़बर एक नहीं ,बल्कि दो सरकारी अखबारो में छपी थीं। ये अखबारे दो देश,दो सरकार और बटे हुए हिंदुस्तान की अकासी कर रही थी। हिंदुस्तान उस दिन पाकिस्तान और इंडिया बन चुका था।

सिक्के पर उस रोज़ कुछ नहीं था। ना अंग्रेज़ बादशाह ना कोई भारतीय नेता, सिर्फ़ एक शेर था,जो दोनो देशों में चल रहा था। ये वो एक चीज़ थी जो १९४७ में भी डोनो देश घूम रही थी। सब कुछ अलग हो चुका था,पर सिक्का उस दिन भूत घबराया हुआ था। हरचंद ताम्बे का सिक्का आधा करना बोहोत मुश्किल था। कुछ दोनो देशों में एक जैसा क़दर रखता था  तो वो ये शेर वाला सिक्का था। सिक्का तो आधा हो ना सका पर आख़िर “one” की जगह “half” लिख दिया गया।।

It’s been a year and a half that we all have heard about the heinous crime that took place in the national capital of India, the Nirbhaya rape case. I still remember that day when I was on my way to New Delhi with my friend Chandan. Rajdhani express was about to reach New Delhi station and I was going through the headlines in the newspaper at around 9:30 in the morning.

I was born in Delhi, appropriately in Ayanagar, the place which is now known as Arjangarh and is now the 4th last station in the yellow line of metro towards Huda City Center. My parents have been here for 8 long years. As I grew up, my mother used to tell me different stories about their stay in Delhi.  She would tell me about the Palika bazaar in Connaught Place, the Sarojini Market near INA and how on every weekend both of them used to go for shopping. They would visit Karolbagh at their aunt’s place and at times they would go for a picnic at India Gate. They would tell me how Gurgaon used to be a farming village, a land of rocks and bushes, and how over 2 decades it was converted into a grassland and eventually an industrial hub of the country. My dad would tell me about the night of Indira Gandhi Assassination, when he had a deadly and aghast experience while returning to the Air Force station in Arjangarh from Karolbagh. A night of curfew when he saw a lot of Sikhs brutally killed and burnt alive on the streets of Delhi and he had to somehow run for his life without a single mode of transport.

All these stories, always fascinated me, and somehow I aspired to be here someday. As I joined Ericsson, I got this opportunity. And as I told, I landed here on that fateful day of 17th December 2012. An atmosphere of fear and hatred consumed me. A series of uprisings, rebellions and protests took place at different places, and I was strictly ordered not to step out of my home after the sunset.

With each passing day, I started accepting the bitter truth of this city, the safety of girls and women. And as the days passed by, I got habituated with these kind of news everyday being aired or in the lost columns of the newspapers.

While I was adapting myself with the new office, new colleagues and an entirely new corporate life, I met a lot of wonderful people. One of them was my roommate Lipika. She was working with Samsung, a Korean language translator by profession. She was the one with whom I excavated most of Delhi. The first place we visited was the BanglaSahib Gurudwara at Connaught place. It was during the winters, 2013. I still remember we walked through the clean and green roads of Delhi and enjoying the chilly aroma of the winters. Although I have never been to such an extreme weather, but somehow, I started liking it. And days were followed by a number of random visits to  ennumerous places here. We visited all the Airforce stations, specifically Subroto Park, and Janpat market in Connaught Place and JNU campus. Those were the most frequently visited destinations. I simply loved it. We visited the Chandni Chowk market in old Delhi, and had the special parathas andjalebis, which it was known for.

I made friends from office as well, we became a group and  would love to hang out together. Always. We had been to Hauz Khas, Lotus Temple, India Gate, the Red Fort, Ambience Mall, Pragati Maidan and so on…

Being at Delhi, gave me ample opportunities to visit most of the nearby states and Union Territories.  I had been to Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Haridwar and Rishikesh. The trip to Rishikesh is the most memorable one, and perhaps I should write another travel blog on it (aspiring to write one ).

Delhi, has always been close to my heart, not because I was born here or I have been staying here, but because it has its own charm, be it people, landscape or food. I love stalking those  handsome Punjabi and Jatt  guys in my office, and I love watching girls in their most fashionable forms. “Delhi ki ladkiyan” are way much smarter, stylish and beautiful than anywhere else. Believe me. And the signature music played here is by Yo! Yo! Honey Singh, without which the parties at the pubs and even the “Sangeet” in the weddings are incomplete.

Weddings at Delhi, Oh! I forgot to mention it. I attended three weddings here, one of which was Neha’s. She got married last month in the Chattarpur farms. It was not a big fat Indian wedding, but yes, I loved the ambience, the music, and the photography by the candid photographers, Karan and Arjun. And of course the dance parties, which are the indispensable parts of the weddings at Delhi.

I witnessed here the rise and the fall of the AAP government, a    government by a man of morals, Arvind Kejriwal, who was solely criticized for the associations with Congress, and how his Lokpal Bill was rejected which lead to his resignation. People here love to criticize, from politics to police. But they are the ones who stand up against all the discriminations.  Be it sexual assault on girls or racism against the North-Easterns, the place is always in news.

Every place has its own pros and cons, and so has Delhi. But I found it to be the most happening place. It has aesthetically taught me the most naked truths of life. I learnt to be strong, I learnt to stand for myself, and not to take shit from others. I started believing in feminism, and most importantly on humanism. And perhaps these values have always been close to my heart.. And as I will be ending my journey from here very soon, it reminds me of those metaphoric lines from A.R Rehman’s song in Dilli 6…