Are want for materialism and hardworking capabilities the most important traits of a person who pursues CA?

The Charted accountant job is considered the king of all jobs allowing one to earn a handsome salary and one of the most respected professions. This is the exact reason why CA exams are one of the toughest exams in the country. At the same time, the jobs are also highly demanding and stressful. For one to select this career there has to be an extreme amount of dedication and grit to not give up. So, what propels an individual to pursue such a profession?

I have come across a lot of my friends who are in the process of pursuing CA, but I never got the opportunity to ask them the question. On my all-India cycle tour, I met a person Sai Kumar from Hubli, who is currently in his CA internship. Speaking with him, I got to understand the mindset of an individual who has an interest in clearing CA and entering the profession.

Table of Contents

I met Sai Kumar at a dormitory where I entered to have some lunch without anyone noticing me. The only person who was around to ask where I could get some food was this lad. He showed me the way and we got to interact for a while post that.

When I learnt that Sai Kumar was already pursuing his CA and that he had cleared the first three levels of the exam, which are foundation, executive, and professional, I was impressed. Of his five-year company secretary course which he had registered to in correspondence at an institute in Pune, he was done with four and a half. Meanwhile, he had also registered for an LLB course in correspondence at Dharwad University.

I was darned and curious about this impressive character who said post 12th grade he hadn’t attended college and was learning everything in correspondence, sitting in the comfort of his room.

Why pursue CA?

I asked Sai Kumar why he had the passion to pursue two courses at the same time. To that, he replied saying he was also passionate about the law side of companies. About how they are formed and how important they are. For companies which file IPOs, CA’s are hired to take care of the legal side of the company which he said he was interested in.

When he figured that I was curious about understanding how CA works, he asked me if I ever wondered why Sundar Pichai earns way more than he used to before. Honestly, such a thought had not even crossed my mind. Sai Kumar went on to say that Managing Director (MD), Whole Time Director (WTD), Chief Execute Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Company Secretary (CS), are the different levels of a post at a company. while MD earns 4% of the share of the entire profit of the company, CS earns 2% of the share of the profit of the company. The rest of them earn anywhere between 2 and 4 % of the company’s profits. He said that is the exact reason why it is important to become a CS of a company.

Lifestyle of a person who pursues CA

All the while I listened to him speak and had my lunch alongside. I asked Sai Kumar if I could go to his room in the Dormitory and check it out to see the quality of life he was living. He gladly accepted and took me along. He said he was there only that morning and that he had just returned from home. On asking why he lived at a dormitory when he could stay at home which was close by, he said he could focus better there. He said food, bed, and table, which are the three essential parts of his studies were all close by. He didn’t want the disturbance of his family while he was studying.

The mindset of an individual who pursues CA

There was a fire in Sai Kumar’s eyes. He was extremely clear on his goal and he seemed to be working on it diligently. I took this opportunity to ask him a couple of questions and figure out what his mindset is in order to be thinking this big.

Justifications

Sai Kumar told me that one obvious reason he wanted to pursue CA was that he could earn big. There were no doubts with regard to that.

He also added that interests in the subject matter as well. If one isn’t interested in law like he was, there wasn’t a point pursuing it. What he uttered next made a lot of sense to me. He said ‘One can work hard only in their field of interest’. Although a CA job demands a lot from a person, he said he was up for it because he enjoys the field.

Validations

The most unique thing I noticed about Sai Kumar was his lack of interest in validations. He didn’t seem to have a lot of friends and he seemed okay with it. He said he didn’t need friends. The only person he liked hanging around with was his brother as he said that there was no give-or-take relationship there.

Recently he said he had been to Goa with one of his friends who is also a CA. I asked him what made him go to Goa with his friend. Sai Kumar simply said it was for fun and there was absolutely no discussion on professional front during the trip. Why would one discuss it on a fun trip? He also said that the two never speak about the profession even once. They just get along as they have similar mindsets.

Sai Kumar surely seemed like a person who didn’t seem to need any sort of validation from anyone.

Complaints

On asking which were some of his biggest complaints in life, he said that the fact that his family restricts him like a kid was one of the biggest. That he can’t watch TV or that he has to shower in the morning are a few.

I told him that considering his complaints are so bleak, he must be caring about his family. He immediately responded by saying what is the point of life if you didn’t take care of your parents? They are the reason I stand here today even. For a person who didn’t seem social valuation, he definitely cared for his family a lot.

Materialism

Sai Kumar said if he wanted a Bentley car, he just wanted it. Nobody could speak him out of it. Not even through spirituality. He said he cared a lot about his comforts and that when he turns out to earn money he would invest it in luxury. There was no point in living life eating bread for the day according to him.

When I asked him what he would do with a ton of money if I gave it to him, he said he wouldn’t receive money from anyone cause nobody gives anything for free. This again spoke about his mindset. I convinced him that some money happened to be his which he realized only today, and asked him what he would do with it. Sai Kumar said he would invest in a luxurious life.

Apart from this interesting person I met, another group of people who are interested in a luxurious life are a group of tribals (Read this article). There doesn’t seem to be many doubts about why the ones who seek materialistic comforts want to turn rich.

Asutosh

I am a 31 year young PhD graduate who has decided to travel the length and breadth of India on my cycle, to document the journey of meeting a vast array of people. In my journey, I intend to understand the characteristic features of the people of this nation and categorize them based on their demographics, age, profession, gender, traditions, and cultural differences.