Monthly Review: March 2024
We are done with the first quarter of 2024 already! I’ll start this month’s review with the most important thing — health.
At the beginning of the month, I fell sick. I don’t know if this can be attributed to the change in weather with increasing temperatures, eating unhealthy or irregular intervals, or disturbing sleep cycles or everything combined. However, reflecting now, I feel it was mostly from inwards. I’ve been stressing about multiple things and the anxiety was on theconstant rise. Everything is self-imposed. I took off for a few days, was away from the laptop as my headache surged when looking at the screen, and engaged myself in meditation and reading books. I felt like I was participating in a competition without pauses or breaks. I took medication, recovered physically, and then realized it was time to get mentally well as well. I started taking therapy sessions, and things have been better now. My therapist suggested that I start practicing meditation and affirmations.
Now, coming to the summer, I finally installed an AC in my room to beat the heat. It helps me not feel the brunt of the temperature and sleep peacefully. The frequency of my headaches has reduced significantly in the last few weeks.
Next is food. We appointed a cook at our home. Our chef aunt cooks well and regularly asks for feedback! Soon after moving to Hyderabad, I thought I’d try cooking, but later, I realized it’s better to have an expert here in the kitchen without me experimenting and affecting my health. Laziness dominated me, and I tried to cook only once in the last four months, that’s all. I used to eat outside at least twice a day and wondered what to eat and where to eat every morning. Honestly, it’s pretty low feels to fret about eating every morning. Now I’m relieved — nothing to worry about for real. Eating at home and having a cook help us out is one of the best decisions we took.
Also, last weekend was terrific. I met my college friends and spent a day with them as they came to our home for a sleepover. It was a fun day, reminiscing our college days, playing games, walking along the streets past midnight talking about our lives, and yeah, bitching over things 😂
Habit tracker
As mentioned earlier, I was sick for a few days this month, so I had to completely stay away from the computer and any physical activity. I felt I needed a break from all the daily activities and just take a back seat and relax. I didn’t go to Cult sessions or even go for a casual walk… I was inside the home, reading whenever I could and taking rest. It was a complete disconnect and felt refreshing.
Although I was off track with most of my habits, I indulged in reading books this month. I read three to four books and am reading one more now.
It’s strange that at one point last year, I found it difficult even to turn a page in weeks, while I finished a book every week on an average this year. I wonder how times change! My colleague, Abhishek, often says this to people who find it difficult to read books —
Read what you love until you love to read!
It’s simple, but it works! In the last few months, the books I’ve read have something related to cinema, be it Steve Jobs (he worked for Pixar) or Goat Days (is being made into a film). So, yeah!
Books
I finished reading two books this month and am on my way to completing the third one.
An Unsuitable Boy
I have a special inclination towards books about cinema, people working in cinema, or stories about how movies are made. I don’t find them difficult to read, and if they are about real stories, there is no friction at all. I started reading An Unsuitable Boy, Karan Johar’s autobiography published before COVID-19.
On the whole, I loved the book. Apart from Karan, my love and respect towards these two people increased tremendously — ShahRukh Khan and Aditya Chopra. I learned many things about Karan and his life, but these two incidents moved me: His father, Yash Johar, a producer, hadn’t delivered a hit film for over a decade. Although he was known as a friendly figure in the industry, luck didn’t favor him… until his son’s debut as a director with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I was overwhelmed after knowing that KKHH was his father’s first commercial success as a producer. The success of any protagonist lies in the success of the resolution, and Karan is the protagonist here, bringing back the glory to his family by delivering the first hit for his father.
The second is his friendship with Apoorva Mehta. During childhood, Apoorva welcomed Karan to the school and befriended him when others showed no interest in becoming friends with Karan. Again, when his father died, it was the same Apoorva who came to help his friend Karan and took over Dharma Productions.
Aside from these two highlights from the book, there are other parts about his writing process, although not much, his influences, and how he overcame his limitations during high school and became a popular figure in his school by participating in cultural activities and winning accolades.
With all this said, I still don’t agree with a few of his points about the outsiders in the book and the movies that won critical acclaim. He won brownie points by mentioning that he admires Baradwaj Rangan and takes his reviews of films seriously! High-five.
Coming to the AIB show, I appreciated Karan’s honesty about feeling bad about the aftermath of getting involved in the legal stuff but not about participating in the show.
I wish Karan would add more stories to the newer editions of the book by including the making story of Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, especially the writing and directing of that movie. It was one of the best movies I watched last year, and a few scenes are my go-to scenes when I want to watch light-hearted comedy.
In between, I revisited “Duppatlo Minnagu” by Yandamoori and re-read a few stories from the book as I felt the need to read suspenseful stories. Though I remember the stories vaguely, the gripping narration held my attention, and I enjoyed the revision, too!
Tuesdays with Morrie
I ordered this book after seeing a few of my colleagues reading it and appreciating it. When the book arrived, I asked Tapasi where to keep it. While he was placing it on the right shelf, he said this book was emotional, and he had already read it. He also remembered calling his teacher soon after completing the book, on the fifth of September, Teachers’ Day!
I started reading the book over the weekend and highlighted the quotes from Morrie. It is a moving story with many heartwarming conversations about everything that matters to us. It was a well-formatted book with a non-linear narrative that takes us back to the memories of the college days and immediately cuts to the present day when Morrie is about to die. There are numerous quotes that I wanted to note down and read regularly. The dialogue is written well in the book. Mitch in first person, without any quotes, as if writing a journal, with Morrie’s dialogues with the quotes, as everything he spoke should be!
I highlighted many quotes in the book, but this one hasn’t left my head since I read it:
When you learn how to die, you know how to live.
I have yet to finish reading this book, but I may finish it soon.
Goat Days
I was aware of the movie — Aadujeevitham from Covid time as the team was stuck in Jordan during the first wave of Covid. I read about the film and found out it is based on a book of the same name, based on a real-life story of a man called Najeeb. I watched the movie trailer, and while browsing the books on our shelf, I found this book. Tapasi read this a while ago and encouraged me to read it. I was able to complete the book within a week.
The book takes a non-linear narrative that talks about the life of Najeeb, an immigrant in the Gulf who’s kidnapped and enslaved by an Arab. No money, nothing.
I felt sad for the person, and my days throughout reading the book were gloomy. I wondered how he survived those harsh conditions for more than three years. Reading this for a week made me uncomfortable.
He also showed his faith in Allah and his constant belief in the miracles of Allah while also cursing him when he was desperate and frustrated. He took a few actions during his stay there, and we can never be the judge of his actions. His tale of enduring and overcoming all those difficulties was resilient. I was having happy tears towards the end when he made it alive after walking along the desert for more than five days and losing out his two friends while escaping from the masera. I recommend reading this book.
Now, coming to the movies, I’ve watched seven movies this month.
Movies
Eagle
Lol. My soft corner towards Ravi Teja is making me watch all his films, and I think it’s time for me to reconsider my love for him. The only things I liked are Srinivas Avasarala, the production design of the guns as part of the iron grills, and the use of technology in the climax with hand gestures (I remember there was a student project in our BTech 1st year that had this). I am disappointed again with another Ravi Teja film.
Laapataa Ladies
This is one of the best films I’ve seen. I went all alone without any pre-booking. I checked on BMS, and a show was available. I walked into the theater just before PVR played the final ad before starting the movie, and I was immersed in the film. The choice of actors, the details in writing the relationships between women, the mysterious character of Jaya and its revelation, Ravi Kishan’s performance, and the sweet moments between Deepak’s mother and his grandmother are heartwarming to watch on screen.
The writing is nuanced with set up and pays off throughout the movie, like Phool Kumari’s innocence in not calling her husband by name in the beginning to screaming his name in public towards the end. Manju Maai did not eat the sweet in the beginning by saying, “There’s no good news in my life to eat sweet,” and she happily savoring the sweet made by Phool when she learns that Phool has reached her place safely made me appreciate and clap for the team.
This movie reiterated the fact that films are about storytelling. You need to connect with the characters and involve yourself in the story to forget about everything else happening in your life for three hours. You start rooting for the characters, feeling for them, and cheering for them. I’d recommend everyone watch this film for its sheer brilliance in telling an interesting story that reflects our society and blends humor.
Gaami
It is an exhausting and tiring experience. Though I like the visuals and the scale of the film, I couldn’t help but complain about the random cuts, gory scenes (okay, it was an A certificate film — my problem), and faults in writing — I couldn’t understand Why and What for many storylines (for example, what are they experimenting on that Asylum and Why? And Chandini Chowdhary’s purpose of getting that medicine, like really?). I appreciate the director’s vision, but if the writing is terrible, it makes the film unbearable to watch. The asylum scenes were claustrophobic for me that haunted me for a few days.
Dune: Part I and II
I booked tickets for an evening show for Dune Part II and finished watching the first part just an hour before Part II. I didn’t feel this was a two-part film for the same reason. I liked it overall, with amazing visuals and acting. I couldn’t help but remember these two films while watching both parts — Khaleja and Yuganiki Okkadu. The core story is something we have been hearing from mythology: the protagonist is exiled from his kingdom only to claim it back by waging a war.
There was a lot of set-up for the villain, but the payoff wasn’t satisfying. Perhaps I’m used to watching fights (not hand combats) between the hero and the villain, and because of this, my expectation of the face-off was high. It didn’t feel good, although the cinematography with the rising sun in the background was amazing. I recalled the climax of John Wick Chapter 4, where the climax fight happens with the rising Sun in the background.
After the film was finished, we were sitting there, and the staff came up to us, informing us that there were no post-credits for this movie and that we could leave 😀
Madgaon Express
Do we need to be politically correct all the time? Nope! I liked the craziness and the comedy in the film. There’s an unabashed way of depicting violence with no unparliamentary language. Upendra Limaye and Chhayya Kadam steal the show again when they appear on screen, and there’s a cute love story.
It was unabashed and felt natural. I was clapping and laughing out loud during a few scenes in the theater. If I had watched it on OTT, I’d have paused the film at multiple scenes just to laugh my heart out! I was expecting the climax twist, as one of my friends played this prank during college days by creating a fake female social media profile and chatting with that friend.
Everyone did their part well, and that is visible on the screen. Although seeing Remo Desoza was surprising, his role was slightly off for me. The silly comedy among the villains made the film enjoyable to watch. The characters are relatable, but the friends are, in a way, a version of the characters in Go Goa Gone. Divyendu has a version of Vir Das and Kunal Khemu from Go Goa Gone, and Pratik Gandhi has a resemblance to Anand Tiwari from Go Goa Gone. Overall, I enjoyed watching the film and looking forward to seeing more films from Kunal Khemmu as a filmmaker.
Aadujeevitham (Goat Life)
I will write about it in a separate blog post, but this story made me feel emotional and gave me hope.
Travel
I was in Bengaluru for the first three days of March to attend a colleague’s (Chetan) wedding. It was lovely meeting people who make you happy and sharing candid conversations without filters — Ashwin, Yitzhak, Kamalini, Hemanth, Jishnav, and other colleagues. Out of three days of my stay there, I ate at Meghana’s twice 😀 I couldn’t resist my urge to eat the Special Veg Biryani at Meghana’s Foods.
I informed Karthik a week before my trip, asking if he’d be free for lunch or dinner for a meet-up. We met at Thejas, Neha’s place, and again, we went to Meghana’s! This lovely couple — Neha and Thejas has been waiting for me to go to Meghana’s for a week or so… You know the feeling of being loved when people make your visit memorable by giving you their time and having the conversations that you cherish for a long time, and no matter how much time you spend time with them, you always feel like it’s not enough and always look forward to meeting them again ♥️
Coming to the songs, I’ve been listening to these two songs on a loop these days:
Poolamme Pilla from Hanu-Man (thanks to Keerthana Vijay on Instagram) and Naa Kanulu Yepudu from Rang De (thanks to Kartheek Bhat)
And yeah, now we are towards the end of the blog. My primary focus remains on my health: taking things slow and rest when needed. A reminder to self and to everyone reading this blog to drink more water, rest well, and take care ♥️ 😄
