Shooting a film with friends over two days

My friend Siddharth, who I had first met at TPCC a bit more than a couple of years, had been planning to make a short film for a while.

We finally shot the film, which is titled Vanchit, over two days last week — Friday and Saturday.

I helped out as a production assistant. Which meant, I didn't do much other than operate the clapboard and move the lights and reflectors around. It isn't exactly the most physically arduous job in the world. But, I realized that if you're holding reflectors (or anything) for long periods of time, having good balance and core strength can certainly help. Which, evidently, I do not have as I felt exhausted after both days. A reminder that I need to exercise more regularly.

I had always (well, not actually always; but around since the time I started watching films around the age of 17-18) wanted take part in the making of a film. So, that's one thing off my bucket list.

Being part of a film crew, even if it is mostly amateur, does give you an insight about what goes on behind the scenes to make a film possible. While it was the first film for most of us involved, we were fortunate to have Siddhanth (who is a different person from the Siddharth mentioned above, and who we also know from TPCC) on the team as he has both worked on films professionally and directed his own film previously.

Siddhanth prepared the call sheet for both days, which made it easy for the entire team to be on the same page. Thanks to the preparatory work done by him, we went into both the days rather well prepared ad even finished shooting on time on the second day (which is not something most of us were expecting).

I think if I were again a part of another film crew again, I would feel a lot more at ease, knowing what to do better because of this experience

Leaving my job at Infosys after 5 years

Last week also marked the end of my employment at Infosys, after almost five years.

I had previously written about my frustrations with their notice period. But, thankfully, there's nothing that a couple of strongly worded emails cannot solve. So I did finally get an early release.

Infosys is a good place to work at when you're starting your career. You get to work on good projects, for well-known clients from around the world. It can be a great place for growing into a role and building confidence.

However, it is also a place where you stop learning quite quickly after the initial period. For Infosys, at its heart, is a very conservative company.

Much of growth and learning in life happens from asking questions, being bold and taking risks where you may be wrong. All these things are antithetical to the culture of the company. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, for there is much value in being boring and reliable. But that also makes it a not very interesting place to work at for too long. Which, I guess, explains its ridiculously high employee turnover rate.

How to read 60 books a year

Last week, I also finished reading my 60th book of this year. Which is already as much as I had read in all of 2024. I want to take that number up to 72 by the end of this year though, which would bring the average up to a nice 6 books per month.

There are very few things in life one has control over. Reaching places on time, and how much one reads are two things that I like being on top of (and the former helps with the latter.)

People often ask me how I manage to find the time to read as much as I do. So, here's a little how to:

1. Read multiple books simultaneously. Some books can be tedious, and you might get stuck with them for months. If you wait to finish the book completely before starting a new one, you'll have large periods of time during which you won't have much to show for.

2. Carry a book everywhere. I've done a lot of my reading this year while commuting on buses or between meetings at work. On my previous project, I had to be on a lot of meetings in which I wasn't really required. Excellent time to read! Reading while commuting is equally good, With Bangalore traffic as bad it is, I am often able to get good 1-2 hours chunks of reading done when I would otherwise be doing nothing but cursing traffic.

3. Reach places on time. Most people in India, if you're supposed to meet them, do not arrive at the pre-determined time. They are inevitably late by an hour or so on average. Waiting for people on such occasions used to be annoying. Until I discovered that I can use the time to read. And now I like want people to be late so that I can read more. Two birds, one stone, and all that.

4. Audiobooks. Audiobooks are an amazing cheat code. Nearly half of the 60 books I've finished have been audiobooks. I listen to them while cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes, or when walking to the grocery store. Makes otherwise mundane everyday tasks feel enjoyable and productive.

If you're on Storygraph, you can check out the books I read here. Or, if you use Goodreads, you can go here.