Well, every Chartered Accountant leaves behind a story to Inspire.
I leave similar footprints. As I thoughtfully travel into the past;
Though I didn't have a normal childhood, I feel blessed that I had my basic physical necessities like food, clothing, shelter met.
I was one of those kids who failed in 4th standard Hindi with a score of 09/100.
Been one of the most misfit students the school had ever seen in history.
It was during my 7th standard summer vacation when I was spending my vacay with my grandparents; one evening I curiously footed towards my grandfather to teach me Namaz.
My grandfather being a preacher of Islam himself, was excited to introduce and teach me the lessons. I was very keen and I also made a discipline to practice them everyday early morning religiously. I am glad I adhered to it.
My 8th standard school had begun and it marked as the first turning point of my life.
The girl who got an F Grade in most of the exams until Grade 7 was now the class 5th ranker, then 3rd ranker and then higher.
It wasn't just about rank. It was the transformation that my entire life had undertaken.
It wasn't about me practising my religious rituals diligently. It was about me believing in the divine energy, the divine force, which helped me keep my focus at the right place.
I thank my school, my gurus for having given me the little appreciation and the wings to my developing interest. I was literally living in my own world only focused on ONE GOAL and that is to study harder not for marks but for knowledge. To change my life, to stand on my feet. This is what I believe even today as the magic when the subconscious mind meets the conscious mind.
A customized version of the words of Dr. NELSON MANDELA:-
Education is the ONLY weapon which you can use to change your OWN WORLD.
This quote did work wonders in my life.
Days passed and I was now a 9th standard kid. My zeal and energy remained the same.
I kept being the best of my capacity. I caught hold of every opportunity that came my way.
I participated and won multiple elocution competitions, essay writing and story writing.
Days passed by and I finally entered my 10th standard. With lots of ups and downs, sleepless nights doing project works, completing assignments, preparing for class tests, exams, dealing with some health issues I managed to get school third rank. I was happy at it and also acknowledged my best is yet to come.
This was that phase where I had experienced THE ROAD NOT TAKEN poem by Rudyard Kipling.
Two Roads (MBBS vs CA) diverged in my mind. All my classmates, friends had enrolled for medicine. Initially, I too did take up the science stream in grade 11. Studied science for 3 months. Paid the fees for the entire academic year. But somewhere my gut didn't accept my decision.
I quit science. With almost all schools having started and progressed in their academic careers, it was hard for me to get into admission for commerce. Yet I was ready to quit.
I quit and almost searched for 2 full months to find a school which would fit me the most. My quest was not only to find a school but also to find one where teaching is in consonance with the way I was taught until Grade 10.
I finally met the principal of one prestigious institution (MSN Raju Sir) he was ready to take admission. Also gave me 2 days to decide whether I like the school or not. I truly loved the school. I loved the way classes were taken which was truly conceptual and knowledge based.
After having enrolled myself I realized I was extremely lagging in terms of syllabus. With the help of my school teachers, principal and other faculties who had taken classes for me over the weekend and conducting extra hours for me I stood class 1st in my half yearly exams. I was only expecting to pass. But I do acknowledge I studied almost 15-16 hours a day with my heart, nerve and sinew and it paid off well. That was the day my principal sir told me “YOU WILL DEFINITELY BECOME A CA”, which is vividly etched in my heart and mind even today.
Days passed and I cleared my 12th boards and was the school topper bagging 97.2%.
Now came CPT Preparation, I was all set to give my centum.
I toiled, worked hard and scored 162/200 = 81%.
Then I moved on to pursue my IPCC to Chennai.
I knew I have ONLY ONE EXAM, ONLY ONE ATTEMPT, ONLY ONE CHANCE.
Its as same as my 12th boards. I never let the thought of another attempt in my mind at any point of time.
I used to attempt classes from almost morning 6 to evening 5 most of the day. Reach back to my room and revise that days that day no matter what the time was.
I almost spent the same amount of time as that in class to revise that days that day.
I was disciplined to complete my target no matter whether the time was 02:00 AM or 04:00AM. There were days where I had to spend some additional time for subjects like Direct Taxes and I had to stretch late night. I used to sit either on the terrace or the staircase to revise my portions since all room mates would be off to sleep and hostel lights were to switched off by 10pm.
But terrace was the place where I spent the most beautiful moments, I used to talk to myself, write down my own thoughts, laugh at myself, sing songs and study :)
Being an introvert and circumstantial extrovert made me introspect my life even more and understand myself better.
With all the efforts, hours put in I cleared both groups of IPCC in first attempt with 60 percentile. I was expecting a rank but I couldn't do it. I was happy but I knew this is still not my best.
I tried with all I have to get into the big 4's.
I did not have any reference hence rejected by all.
Then I focused on getting into midsized firms and got selected by many. But I didn't settle.
I wanted to give one more try to get into the big 4's. During my Orientation classes I made contacts and through them I managed to get a referral to get into the big 4 and was blessed to have worked at Ernst & Young for 3 years.
My first year of articles was very smooth….I started my CA Final classes after few months of starting my articles.
It was during the second year of my article ship when I turned 18; the onset of adolescence where my entire childhood affected me in a flash. I wasn't aware of what was going on with me. And all this impacted my CA Final classes but I'm glad though I wasn't giving my best I was disciplined to still give 2 hours of focus everyday.
As I recollect, I empathize with the younger me and also feel proud that the younger me was strong to deal everything all by herself.
Then came the most important phase of my life. CA Final Exam Leave.
I couldn't focus with the best of my capacity. I wasn't understanding what was happening with my own life. My family was never there for me to support me emotionally or morally.
I had to handle it myself. That's when I found IGNITE. It helped me become self aware, mature and understand life. I must mention, Ashutosh Rathi Sir's words and calls in those days gave me lot of direction and self confidence to believe in myself and focus on the right path.
Ashutosh Sir is a true mentor, he doesn't give us fish but guide you master fishing. Ignite helped me realize the importance of discipline, hardwork and constant mental feed. I learnt amazing new and scientific study techniques at Ignite which helped me stay on track and study more effectively. I am grateful to be a part of Ignite.
It's then that I gave my all for my Group 1 Preparation, I worked very hard to get myself to focus, yet there were times where I used to sit in mid afternoon at the beach drinking coke to kill the pain. I am still glad I tried with all I have and appeared for G1 exams.
To my dismay, though I tried hard and gave my best given those circumstances and scored 172. I felt bad and at the same time glad I made it to 172 in those circumstances.
The next time I tried with all my might, all I have, I had my senior who pushed me to perform at my best, met me every weekend to ensure I was on the right way and provided all the emotional and moral support. I made it to a 230 in G1 and 200 in G2 .I was indeed grateful to have had her during the toughest phase of my life.
During my CA Final preparation, there were many situations which forced me to move to work. But I didn't Because I knew once I do that, my Goal to become a Chartered Accountant would be at stake.
I managed to get a scholarship, fund money through contacts and provide for myself because I knew it was temporary and I have to take the risk.
And today , I look back I believe that was the best decision I have taken, because it helped me stay on track, and also motivated me that I have loans to repay so I need to study harder .Effectively, it didn't make me get into the comfort zone.
And yes, today as I proudly pen down, I am a 22 year old Chartered Accountant.
The only thing that pushed me to blur the obstacles and focus at the right place was my Goal to become a Chartered Accountant.
To all my fellow aspirants, Your dream to become a Chartered Accountant will turn into Goal only through Action. A dream remains a dream with No action. I am also glad I was an active participant in conferences conducted by ICAI and had gotten opportunity to present my paper, publish my own article in CA Journal, and also participate in quiz and elocution at State level. I urge students to build themselves in a well rounded manner and the best use of the opportunities provided by ICAI. I would also like to humbly urge the students to respect and worship our mother body and never pass any false or demeaning comments for your negative results.
Action includes working towards your goal, planning, perseverance, consistency and above all SACRIFICE (of mobile time, fake friendships, sleep, all temptations) and discipline.
As I move on in pursuit of my next goal,
All the best to all the FCA's) Future CA's.
The author can also be reached at ridatarannum.786@gmail.com
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