Of course the point of a CA day
is lost on me but what it did do to me was drag me through the streets of
Nungambakkam, through the corridors of the CA institute, through the laughs and
agonies as taxation and accountancy infused into our beings..
If there ever was an underrated
and under-glamourized profession in the world – Chartered Accountancy had to be
top on that list..! No one knows about it, no one knows why they do it and no
one knows what they do after being one! The unknown being the most prominent
parameter of the profession. Keep aside that notion and you wonder why you
would never see a character in a novel or a movie being a ‘chartered accountant’?
Yes, believe me I have been searching
for it…and barring a mediocre Bollywood movie where the main character was a CA
(and incidentally also a psychological wreck), I am yet to come across a solid
character?
Perhaps romance and beauty is not
something you can associate with the profession – it will need an impossible
stretch of imagination to visualize a pretty girl in slow motion as the nuances
of accounting standards are being discussed in the classroom. And there is
little room to add patriotism or humanity to the CA character (unlike the easy
visual treats of a soldier unfurling the flag with blood on his hands or a
doctor saving the life of a downtrodden). So obviously writers block would come
in the way trying to add drama, romance or comedy to the otherwise lackluster life
of a Chartered Accountant.
But I would think with a little
bit of sarcasm and irony weaved in, one could imagine a thriller or a tragedy
out of a CA’s life? The days and nights of an aspirant – literally starts at
the break of dawn – and as the whole world sleeps, an entourage of students swarm
into an accountancy class trying to cut through a complex accounting problem. And
when students of their age are hanging around on campuses, the CA wannabes are
scrambling into their internship schedule to clear a heap of assorted files
with work that borders on bonded labour. And come dusk and they are again back
to where they began – in a different class trying hard to break off from the
office routine and don their ‘student’ hats! If this isn’t inviting enough, try
the suspense and heartbreak of passing over the ‘40’ mark threshold to
officially announce yourself as a CA – and the cruelty of life that gifts you a
39 and essentially spits in your face and dares you to take the challenge
again!
My mind wanders into the
nostalgic aroma of white fluffy idlis and filter coffee in Chennai as I downed
by breakfast to get ready for the next battle of a class. The simplicity of walking
into a class – disheveled and determined in same measure – not caring for the
requirements of the ‘look’ expected from a student! The circle of friends who
tried to find sparkles in your days of cramming and cravings! The warmth of the
voices that support you as setbacks of the profession tear through your
confidence! A joyous ecosystem that we created for ourselves – notwithstanding the
pressures of a course that can unsettle the bravest ones, the isolation from
the usual ‘hip-hop’ campus life of any other professional student and the
unrelenting heat of the Chennai summer that drenched you through your afternoon
classes!
And at the end of that joyride, I
may have forgotten the standards drilled into my brain, I may be rusty on the
statutes that I crammed with sincerity but what I hold close to my heart is
that experience! The feeling of citrus orange juice soothing me as the sun
burnt my skin, the steadfast ambition we all nurtured to cross over the CA
hurdles, the unequalled sense of achievement as the screen displayed ‘PASS’ ,
the no-nonsense relationships we built that were not coloured by bias,
manipulation or materiality..all flood into my memory as I turn a page on that
chapter – and I can’t help but let that smile brighten my face!
