Over a cup of coffee at a high street cafe, a couple of weeks back, some of us discovered the ‘TRUTH’ about the life of a CA. That ‘TRUTH’ which lies under cover, only to reveal itself after one transcends the circle of Pass and F*** (Life and Death)
This is definitely not a write up on how to pass the CA exams (I don’t think that even the esteemed ICAI would brave that). I am also not going the Chetan Bhagat way to tell you “What not to do after passing the CA exams?” I will leave that for another day when I have more inputs from others in the “Accidental” fraternity.
Coming to the problem, the world perceives us as an “Elite” group of individuals. That, we are. No doubt. After all, there are just over 180,000 chartereds in our country. Compare this to the engineers who reside in just Bangalore, let alone the whole country. We are scarce commodities. But it’s still a rat race; lesser rat’s maybe, but nonetheless a rat race. First to pass the exam; then to get that coveted job. There are people who are desperately trying to get into the prestigious Big4s. And once they are in, they are desperately trying to get out. Some last for as less as 15 days!! Some keep waiting for that near-perfect (read non-existent) jobs and others just give up the wait and start up on their own.
Life as a CA is comfortable but why is that most of us feel that may be we compromised or that life’s not what we sought out to be. I would say the reason is the unnecessary HYPE that is attached to being a CA. People scream from roof tops of the name/respect/money that comes with being a CA. There is definitely all of that, but it would help if people made a more realistic estimate of it. Now the reason for all that hype, I assume is the measly pass %. It’s simple Demand-Supply economics. When the supply is restricted, the price automatically moves up. But this is the case of an over-valued asset that over time tends to reduce to its actual value.
But why do fresh CAs believe all that is just told to them by a bunch of Bozos?? Why don’t we foresee?
Well, I believe, the reason is simple. A CA student’s life can be depicted in binary. Pass (or) Fail. Approximately 90% of the total students have to deal with the “F” word that will ruin their life for yet another 6 months. Because of this, we don’t plan for a day beyond the fated day when the result will be announced. Everything is dependent on the happening or non happening of the contingent event on the D Day. So when some of us suddenly pass (and I stress on “suddenly”) we are thrown in uncharted waters. We are so busy revelling in the glory of the fact that we cleared the exams that all else blurs.
Well the bubble bursts soon enough. An average 2 months spent looking for a job teaches us all the “gyaan” that the 1,000 page books we read did not bestow upon us. And soon enough we meet at coffee shops to discuss what life finally turned out to be.
To disclaim, I have nothing against the Institute or the course itself. It is one of the few courses that incorporate a 3 year articleship (some may call it otherwise) that better prepares you for the years to come, all of which is commendable. But a reality check is what is required to assess where we stand. Let’s cut the jazz and let the future generations of CA’s know that they may have won the battle by passing, but the war of survival has only just begun!!
The Accidental CA 