Monthly review: April 2026

I started April with traveling — from Bengaluru to Hyderabad, and I was traveling for most of the month! I was in Bangalore towards the end of March for our roadmap planning, and on 1st April, I came back to Hyderabad.

April has seen a lot of heat and unpredictable weather. It rained for a couple of days, but the temperature still soared high. There were a few days where the heat was just too much for us to handle. And thankfully I escaped the brunt of this heat by traveling to… drumroll… Japan!

With the teaser done, let’s get started with the blog post.

Travel

Speaking of travel, I travelled to Japan with friends this month for an eight-day trip. We’ve been planning this since the month of January. This was one of my resolutions — to travel to Japan with friends. And thankfully, I could complete one resolution, thanks to Pranith, Gowtham, Sandeep, and Kiriti.

More about it in the next blog, but oh God — Japan is a beautiful country. I would recommend everyone to visit or at least consider Japan as one of the countries they travel to. I had to unlearn a lot and learn a lot. More on it in a separate blog post.

A teaser from Japan — Mt Fuji

Before we proceed to the regular things in this monthly blog post, I want to talk about anxiety.

A slightly difficult topic because I don’t think I’ve discussed this before. Every time I travel — even if it’s for a week or two — I get this slight travel anxiety. I love traveling so much that in the last six-seven months, I don’t think there has been a stretch of 30 days where I slept in the same place. I end up visiting places within a 30-day window and life has been rewarding in that way.

But every time I travel, two or three days before the trip, I get anxious. I get anxious for reasons unknown — this is regardless of traveling to a known or unknown territory, with known or unknown people or solo travel. This is about work, habits — gym, yoga, writing, reading books, etc. I don’t know why but this keeps happening all the time. And this time, I observed what happens to me during that phase.

First thing — I bite my nails. This is something I had stopped back in school, around 9th or 10th class. But now, whenever I get anxious, I unconsciously start biting my nails again. I realized this just before Japan trip.

And, I sweat a lot. Like a lot. The shirt or t-shirt that I wear becomes almost like it has been taken out after being soaked in water. That wet.

I had noticed this pattern once earlier, in 2023, when I travelled to Rajasthan for almost a month-long solo trip. Just before that trip, I had similar signs, but I didn’t connect the dots back then. This time, before Japan, I could clearly see it.

Did I try to fix it? Not really.

But instead of sitting idle and overthinking about the trip — how it will go, what might happen — I just kept doing the next immediate thing. Reading a book, finishing work so that I don’t carry it mentally into the trip, writing something, watching movies… just keeping myself occupied.

So yeah, maybe it was just diverting my mind. But that’s what I did to handle it.

And since we’re speaking about anxiety, I also attended a sing-along event this month with a friend in Hyderabad. During that event, I wasn’t really connecting with the songs they were performing. And at one point, I was put on the spot briefly.

I started sweating profusely. But interestingly, when the hot breeze outside touched my body, I felt cool because of how much I was sweating.

I just wanted to document this — what kind of situations trigger anxiety in me, what happens to my body, and how I react.

And in a way, I feel this is a good discovery. Just understanding myself a little more.

Moving on to the regular template now.

Books

Starting with the books I read this month — although I have not finished completing any book, I am currently reading a book called Dial D for Don, written by an ex-IPS officer, Neeraj Kumar.

I had read his Khaki Files in early 2025. That was his second book, and this is his debut. I got hold of this book recently, in the month of April, and I started reading it. I couldn’t finish it yet. But so far, I think I’ve completed around 50% of the book, and the stories are interesting.

These are real crime and investigative stories from his tenure at CBI. I think after Dhurandhar, my interest in these kinds of stories has increased. I was already into investigative books before, but after that film, I feel like my curiosity around these topics has grown even more.

And apart from this, something that I’m low-key proud of — because I had my trip to Japan from 15th April, one of my friends sent me a screenplay that he wrote, for me to read and share my thoughts. The timeline was tight because I had to pack and do a lot of other things. But I had one evening to read it.

I sat down and finished it in a single sitting… or maybe two sittings. I completed reading the screenplay. It felt really good. I shared my thoughts with him, and we are yet to meet and discuss it further.

This gave me a small realization that if I keep procrastination aside, I can actually get things done. It reminded me of my 11th and 12th days, which I consider my peak years in terms of discipline, dedication, and commitment.

So yeah, this kind of sparked something in me again: that if I sit and focus, I can do it.

Since I was in Bangalore towards the end of March, I purchased one more book which I am yet to start. I think after finishing Dial D for Don, I’ll pick that up next.

Cinema

Now coming to the movies that I watched in theatres this month, I watched three movies. Project Hail Mary is the first one. Next is Michael, and today I watched a Tamil movie called Kara.

Starting with Project Hail Mary. My colleague Jishnav had read the book and was hyping it a lot. He recommended that I read it, but I couldn’t. He was also hyping the movie. And another colleague, Dhvani, messaged me after watching it and recommended it to me. So I was like, yeah, getting recommendations from two people, why not?

And oh boy — lovely movie. I never anticipated that the movie would be about friendship or bonding between two beings. I did not see that coming at all because I hadn’t watched the trailer or read anything about it. I just went in with a blank slate, and the movie turned out to be really good for me. I enjoyed it.

But the theatrical experience was slightly ruined because of the audience. Since it’s a space-based movie, there are a lot of scientific terms, and not everyone was able to follow them. Instead of staying silent, people were talking to each other during the movie, which got annoying. Yeah, that part was frustrating.

Next, I went to watch Michael — again alone. I went immediately after coming back from Japan. On the same day I landed, I went to watch it. I mean… being a Michael fan from childhood. How can I miss it?

Although I had listened to his songs growing up, I think I really got to know more about Michael Jackson after his death. I still remember the shocking headline on the day he passed away. He always seemed much younger than his age, and when I got to know he was around 50, I was surprised. I remember thinking he was older than my father, who was the eldest in our house.

Coming to the movie, it’s highly energetic and is a celebration of the legend. I have one minor complaint: the ending felt abrupt. I thought the movie would cover everything about his life, but it didn’t. But apart from that, oh God, such a lovely film. Jaafar did a really good job portraying Michael.

And after watching it, my Instagram feed is completely filled with Michael Jackson — all his songs, all his clips. And I started listening to his songs again after a long, long time.

Even in our flat, my flatmate Susruth is listening to Michael’s songs. So it’s either him or me playing Michael’s songs. Our house has been filled with Michael’s songs day in and day out.

And today, I watched a Tamil movie called Kara. I had expectations from this movie for two reasons — one, the writer-director duo who worked on Por Thozhil, Vignesh Raja and Alfred Prakash. And second, Dhanush. Again, I didn’t watch any promotional material. I blindly trusted these three and went in.

The first half is really intriguing. I usually don’t talk about movies in terms of first half and second half, but this one had a clear difference. The first half was very engaging. I was on the edge of my seat, literally biting my nails after a long time, and enjoying that tension.

But the second half kind of brought it down. The first half is very personal, focused on Dhanush’s character and his story. But in the second half, it becomes more of a larger-than-life narrative, where he becomes a protagonist in a Robin Hood-like trope, solving not just his problem but also others’ problems in the village.

If you’ve watched Kick, this movie reminds you of that multiple times in the second half.

The first half had excellent screenplay and tension. Just before the interval, I felt like, oh God, if they stretch this any further, I won’t be able to handle it. That level of anxiety and engagement.

But the second half didn’t live up to that. I expected it to continue as a cat-and-mouse game, but it turned into more of a social thriller. It became a bit generic in that sense.

Not that the trope is bad. But I couldn’t connect to it as much as the first half. We’ve seen similar narratives many times before.

So yeah, these are the movies that I watched in theatres this month.

And a lot of movies are releasing tomorrow, 1st of May. Looking forward to them as well.

OTT

Speaking of the movies that I watched on OTT, I watched a couple of movies this month.

I watched a Telugu movie called Vedam, which I have been wanting to revisit for a long time. This movie was released back in my school days. I think I had watched glimpses of it back then, but after that, I never revisited it. Even then, I had a lot of respect for this movie because of its story progression and the characters. And I loved those characters.

I had tears in my eyes while watching this movie. I think I was holding them back until the climax, but I couldn’t control them there. I just wept during the climax.

This movie has a lot of idioms (Sametalu in Telugu). There are many of them, and they reflect society in a very sharp way — sometimes satirical, sometimes humorous. So there’s this blend of humor and social commentary throughout.

The dialogues are really good. The story progression is strong. And the way Krish handled multiple themes — poverty, the aspiration to become rich, following your passion, religion and how it is used to divide people, choosing love over religion, and having respect for every profession — he touches so many topics through these characters.

And towards the end, the way humanity comes together — regardless of who you are or where you come from. When there is a crisis, how people act collectively… that stayed with me.

There is a song called “Malli Puttani,” composed by Keeravani, which kind of shook me with its lyrics and vocals.It’s like a mirror. Vedam is beautiful.

I was flying with Cathay Pacific, and they have a really good catalog of movies. I ended up watching F1 twice. I watched F1 in its entirety on my way to Japan. And on the way back, I rewatched a few scenes that I really liked.

And next, on the same flight, I watched bits of Kantara — the first part. I watched the first 10 minutes and the climax portion. And in between, I was also just browsing through other movies — randomly playing a few scenes here and there and then closing them.

After coming back to India, I picked Vasu. I had never watched it fully before. I had listened to its songs multiple times and I’m a fan of the album but never got a chance to watch the movie in its entirety. I had only seen a few comedy scenes here and there.

And apparently, the movie didn’t perform well back then. I think one of the reasons could be the slightly incoherent screenplay. Personally, I felt I would have liked the film more if it leaned towards a serious tone. There was no continuous emotional flow that I could carry along with the movie as after every serious scene, there is a comedy scene inserted.

But the brother-sister sentiment in the film really worked for me. Venkatesh and his sister, both, performed really well. Every scene between them felt genuine and touching. It kind of made me reflect on my own relationship with my sister.

Songs

Speaking about songs, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been listening to Michael Jackson’s songs again, thanks to the hype around the Michael movie and also thanks to my Instagram feed.

Before travelling to Japan, my Instagram was completely filled with Japan reels. And now it’s completely filled with Michael reels. I’m happy about it.

I’ve also been listening to Dhurandhar 2 songs, and those are still on loop.

And somehow, I went back to Ritviz songs. It has been a long time since I listened to his songs. I don’t know how it happened, but I revisited them this month.

It feels lovely because I remember, during a phase early in my corporate career when things were not great, I used to listen to Ritviz songs a lot. They felt personal, they felt uplifting.

Following the template of visiting a new place in Hyderabad and also meeting my friends, this month’s meetup happened at a place called Paigah Tombs in Hyderabad, which is near Owaisi Hospital.

Paigah Tombs

Both of my friends, Tarun and Pranay, had not been to Paigah Tombs. I hadn’t even been there until this month. And it was close to my sister’s place, so I was already there and asked my friends if they could join me. The meeting point was set.

It was the three of us, during sunset time, in the old city — surrounded by these tombs, a beautiful sunset, and intricate architecture that is being restored by the Aga Khan Foundation. Although the Paigah Tombs are smaller in area compared to the Qutb Shahi Tombs, the architecture here is really beautiful. The intricate details in the arches, the design on the walls — everything stood out.

We sat there until sunset, or rather until it was almost dinner time, and then we went out to have dinner together. It turned into a lovely evening filled with conversations. From evening until late night, we were just talking — about everything happening in our lives.

It was lovely visiting Paigah Tombs.

One more month of showing up for these two things — three of us meeting and me visiting a new place in Hyderabad.

Coming to habits, I was not regular at the gym this month. I went to yoga for a few days, I went to the gym for a few days, and I don’t think I ran at all this month.

But fitness-wise, I was still active because in Japan, on average, I walked around 10 kilometers every day. And the highest was, I think, around 22 or 25 kilometers in a single day. But apart from that, I wasn’t regular with the gym.

And writing-wise also, it wasn’t a great month.

Before the trip, I had travel anxiety. And after coming back, I had to adjust to the weather changes. In Japan, it was around 0 to 1 degree, and suddenly coming back here, it was above 40 degrees. So I had to stay indoors for a few days and take rest.

My health wasn’t completely normal after coming back. I had some minor issues — tummy problems, headache. Nothing serious, but still not fully okay. So I couldn’t get back to all the habits that I usually follow when I’m in Hyderabad.

My parents visited me on the day of my Japan trip. They came home, brought some food items and snacks, and wished me well for the trip. So it felt really nice.

I had this excitement for a trip of a lifetime with friends. It was such a memorable trip. I was anticipating it, I was excited for it, and it went really well. And also, a little picnic that we had with friends in Hyderabad at Paigah Tombs. And meeting family. I was at my sister’s place for three to four days this time, and I visited her multiple times. And I’m meeting my parents tomorrow.

April has been really rewarding in all these ways.

Until next time…