#mustread.. CA Nitin Soni: How are you feeling now that you’re ranked all India No 2 in CA Final? Kunal: Feeling great Sir. It feels good when you are recognized. CA Nitin Soni: Were you expecting a Rank? Kunal: Frankly speaking, I wasn’t expecting Rank 2. But When I was preparing for this exam, I was confident that I would achieve a rank. I thought I would get good marks & be able to achieve a rank somewhere between 30s. but then one month before the exam, I suffered from typhoid and other health issues. So then I thought I would be able to get a rank somewhere in the 40s. So it can be said that 2nd rank was nowhere on my mind. However, I have also achieved ranks in IPC and CPT before. CA Nitin Soni: What were your ranks in CPT & IPCC? Kunal: I got 8th rank in CPT and in IPCC, it was 26. CA Nitin Soni: Kunal, now that you have achieved 2nd Rank, do you think you could you have done better? Kunal: I don’t think so sir. I’m happy with what I have got. Even if I would have got 20th rank, I would still be happy. I don’t think comparison can be done. It is because the other person has also done the hard work. I cannot decide on ranking, it’s also about others’ hard work and preparation for exam. Now that I have got above 70% I think I have done good enough. CA Nitin Soni: Hard work or Luck? Kunal: I think hard work is the key. People say luck is a big factor. But in the end I think hard work is important. People give importance to luck but I think luck factor get even out in 8 papers. Your luck may favour in 1-2 papers. Like, if you are appearing for only 1 group, then you may be lucky if questions come from practice manual etc but in 8 papers, No one can say that he cleared the papers because of luck. CA Nitin Soni: Now this is a very good point raised by you that luck gets even out. Do you think there is anything called smart work for CA students? Kunal: Yes sir smart work is there even in CA. One has to not only know the answers but also have to be aware of the terminology to be used in all the papers. Also you should know in what language you are going to interact with the examiner. You may have seen that even in CA, nowadays interactive question papers have been made with. The questions being asked in all the papers have been subjective/objective type. Institute doesn’t go into much theory now. CA Nitin Soni: Did you take coaching? Kunal: No sir I have not taken any coaching. CA Nitin Soni: Did you study from study modules, RTPs and other ICAI material?Kunal: Definitely. Practice manual and RTP 100% for all subjects. You know, different -different authors have different opinions, where I was not getting satisfactory response, in such cases I referred to the modules. I also referred to the mock papers etc. CA Nitin Soni: How many study hours did you devote to CA Final preparation? Kunal : After starting Articleship, since it was the starting stage my focus was there in Articleship. Also I was flying high on my IPCC success so didn’t study much but after about 5 months started studying for about 5-6 hours and then in last few months – almost 8-10 hours ho gya tha. CA Nitin Soni: Any special techniques you used while preparing for the exams to retain such a huge syllabus. Say for example ISCA..? Kunal: No special techniques as such but definitely I used to have discussions with my peers and friends. This way we used to do comparative study, pick random topics/questions and then we used to ask each other how we will answer that particular question. In a way this helped us all to understand the level of our preparation before the exams. CA Nitin Soni: Did you study in groups or individually? Kunal: Yes sir we used to study in groups. Touchwood, I have a very good group. In fact, we are three friends in my group who cleared the CA exams in the first attempt. There were two another who were very knowledgeable. One of my friends in the group has got 44th rank. CA Nitin Soni: How important do you think is revision? Kunal: It is very important sir because if you notice, eight subjects individually have an entire world in their own world. So it gets a little difficult if you switch from one subject to the other and to retain the knowledge from the last subject. CA Nitin Soni: How was your revision schedule like? Kunal: I made it a point not to remain out of touch from any subject beyond 15-20 days. People say that one should focus on one subject.. complete it and then move on. I believe this is not right. CA Nitin Soni: Did you prepare any brief notes/short notes? Kunal: Yes sir. Almost for all the subjects. Like every time a publication especially private publication refreshes its course material, there is 100% chance you may get a new point to study. For instance if you take costing, if you study about 10 questions from a publication, you may get relevant information for only 1-2 points. On the other hand, if you pick some other publication, you may get 4-5 relevant points. This is the key to gather all the important information together. The point is to gather all the important information from different publications. This way when you finally sit down to study you will get a concise bundle of information about the particular subject. CA Nitin Soni: Does this apply to other subjects as well as like technical/theory subjects like audit, law…? Kunal: Most probably it applies to all the subjects. Costing, indirect tax, FM, law, Direct tax everything. CA Nitin Soni: Do you believe in 80:20 rule? The Law of Vital Few? Kunal: Pareto Rule? CA Nitin Soni: Yes. Kunal: Yes sir. In every subject there are important topics that bring us maximum marks and they should be given more time. E.g. in law there is a Chapter – Directors. If there is May attempt, then make sure you do Assessment procedure well. Do the amendments from the finance bill. So these covers good chunk of marks. CA Nitin Soni: How important is ‘belief’ in the process of becoming a Chartered Accountant? Believing that you can become a Chartered Accountant… that you can get a Rank. Kunal: 100% important sir. It surely is. I told you that one month before the exam, I suffered from typhoid and other health issues. I knew ki agar main exam center me baith bhi jaun to bhi I will pass but meri khud se itni expectations thi ki after all this hard work that I had put in I had to be somewhere… I always believed ki mujhe kahin ‘average’ nhi rukna hai.. I didn’t want to settle for an average score. Once my family doctor who supported me said these lines in Hindi “Jo aap chaho zaruri nai apko mil jae” Happy endings are not always there. But yes unless aap kisi cheez ko itna importance rakhte ho to use cchodne se pehle ek baar puri mehnat se uspe attempt maro agar ho jaye to You deserve it… Deserve it more than anyone else. Jab tak aapne exam nhi diye… aapko belief nhi cchodna chahiye. And after you have given the exams, stop expecting anything. CA Nitin Soni: Share some thoughts about people who do all the hard work, expect the ranks but in the end they fail. Kunal: Actually I have a friend. Personally, I used to take direct and indirect taxes advice from him. He is very intelligent in all the subjects. Unfortunately he cleared only one group but not the other.It is here that luck factor works. One has to believe that in time to come, exams will get cleared. Personally he knows he has to clear the exam in the next attempt. But it gets irritated that six months more will be wasted. CA Nitin Soni: Means the point of irritation is ki 6 months aur lagenge but from within they are convinced that they will clear the exams. That its just a matter of time right? Kunal. Right. Because they know that their friends who are passing has the same intelligence level. but it’s all about 400 points. So the point of irritation remains that no one wants to waste six months in these competitive times. CA Nitin Soni: How crucial is overall environment- the friends & family? Kunal: I think family support is very important. Even my father didn’t expect me to look after family business. I wasn’t given any responsibility at home. In fact I was given full freedom to utilize my time in preparing for the exams by concentrating on my Articleship and study for 20hrs from all the 24hrs in the day. Plus, obviously it’s important to have a good group because so many amendments come that when you are a part of a group, you don’t miss vital information. You become aware of the upcoming changes by remaining active in the groups. You understand your own level of preparation. CA Nitin Soni: This way positive energy also stays in the group? Kunal: Yes especially, if everyone who is in the group is having their first attempt. Even if no one has an experience, they are willing to help each other in the group. This way positivity remains in the group. CA Nitin Soni: Tell me one thing, how important is it to feel love for the profession-loving your teachers, your subjects? Kunal: Actually sir, faith will come from love. Maybe one is not able to clear the exams in one or two attempt but they are ready to give extra 6-12monts only to have CA written against their name. In today’s field, people don’t generally go for only one degree, they start preparing for CS simultaneously. Still it is a feeling to get CA written against their names and I think that love & faith keeps them going. CA Nitin Soni: What do you think now that you have got CA written against your name? Kunal: Well, it feels great but I am taking it more as a burden. Obviously, now I have joined a very elite group. Now when I talk to others, I understand that I belong to a professional group of 2-2.5lakh people. Earlier, when others used to ask for advice, we used to give them earlier without assessment. Now this becomes important. CA Nitin Soni: What are your plans now-business, job? Kunal: As of now there are no concrete plans yet but I am looking towards serving the industry for at least 5-7years. After that I would like to take it from there. CA Nitin Soni: How important is sacrifice? Kunal: Sacrifice in terms of that at times you had to let go off certain choices, like I got the opportunity for articleship in Mumbai- a metro city. But I knew one thing that there work hours would be tight and erratic. This would have limited my chance to clear the exams in first attempt. Fortunately for me, I got the opportunity for articleship in Jodhpur only. It is the most renowned CA firm in Jodhpur. So this is where I compromised. But I knew one thing that in Jodhpur, which is my hometown, I would be able to devote extra time to my studies. CA Nitin Soni: Did you sacrifice on things like spending quality times with friends, celebrating festivals with family? Kunal: To a little extent, like when I used to get irritated or tired the feeling that naam ke aage CA lagana hai… kept me going. Fortunately my group was good. We used to decide that till 15days we will study and every 25th day we will party. In that sense, it never felt like if I have sacrificed. CA Nitin Soni: how did you handle pressure of CA final? Kunal: It would be wrong to say that I handled it effectively. (laughs) In fact, I fell ill and I even cried, got emotional, there were mood swings. But when you talk to your friends who are appearing for the same attempt.. and that is the best motivating factor. You understand that they are also going through the same situation. CA Nitin Soni: It’s great. You gave answers straight from the heart. This is going to help CA students in long run. One last question any advice/technique you would like to share Kunal: I think sir I would like to share my mentor Mr. BM Kothari’s words, there is a wrong belief that CA’s have a reputation of being the tax evaders. So people who are entering this profession must get the right facts first. They should understand that CAs are known for their integrity. First feel this and then enter this profession so that you respect your profession first. CA Nitin Soni: Is rank important? Ya CA banna in itself is sufficient? Kunal: sir, I don’t think rank is important. No sir. Overall, rank is all about numbers in the end. Personally, I never compared myself with any other rank holder. It was my friends who told me there was only three marks difference. So in the end, it’s just a number game. And then experience count and it will only come in its own manner in daily life. I don’t in the coming seven months it will have any value. I believe in enjoying the present moment, just party and move on. CA Nitin Soni: Thank you so much Kunal and all the best for a bright future ahead. Kunal: Thank you sir. It was a pleasure talking to you. Friends, Hope you’ #aisha
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:26:05 +0000