Joshwa D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Jan 31: Chartered accountancy is no doubt one of the toughest exams to clear, with overall pass percentages hovering in single digits year after year. Most candidates clear the CA finals only after years of effort, and to do it right in the first attempt is remarkable. Meet Sirajuddin of Yedapadavu, who not only cleared CA finals in his first attempt, but also did it even before completing his articleship, a rare feat indeed.

In Dakshina Kannada alone, around 200 students took up the CA mains this year, but only eight of them, including Sirajuddin, passed. In fact, at 23, he is the youngest among those who passed the exam this year from the district.

Sirajuddin, born as the first child of Ismail Sharif and Sakeena, pursued his schooling in Ideal English Medium school, Yedapadavu and completed his pre-university at Canara PU College. After his PU he challenged himself to achieve something tough, something unique, and decided to try his hand at chartered accountancy despite having taken science in PUC. His father works abroad while his mother is a homemaker. He has two brothers and a sister.

Speaking to daijiworld, he explains why he chose CA over MBBS and engineering or even BSc, which are the common streams science students usually choose. "After I completed my PU, I thought I should do something challenging. Many people pursue engineering and medicine but hadly few manage to become a CA. A challenge is a challenge when it is tough. So I decided to become a CA."

The result, he says, was unexpected, and of course, rewarding. "To be honest, I came to know I had passed only after my relatives and friends who saw the result started congratulating me. Later when I confirmed, I felt as if my efforts had born fruits. My entire family is happy as I am the first person in the family to clear the exam. My relatives advice their children to consider me as a role model," he says with a laugh.

But taking up CA was not a rash or spur-of-moment decision. Sirajuddin opted for it knowing fully well what he was getting into. "I chose CA as a career only after gathering indepth knowledge about what I had to study. In fact, many aspire to become CA, but most of them abandon the journey mid-way. About 99 percent of those who take it up fail to clear the exam in the first attempt. In the meantime, three years of their life are blocked. A few do it while pursuing their BCom, but later end up with just graduation. I am happy that I managed to clear it in the first attempt."

Asked about his study pattern, he says, "When it came to CA mains, I had been studying continuously for 13 months. Like everyone else, initially it was tough to concentrate and I started with one hour of study a day. Later whenever I used to find time between office hours (where he was doing articleship), I used to study. It then became a habit and when there were only a few months left for the exam, I used to study 10 hours a day. I prefer studying until midnight than doing it early morning."

His message to aspiring chartered accountants: "Whenever you take any major decision regarding your studies, do not act according to other people's advice, rather take your own decision after gathering all the information about the career you want to pursue. Once you have decided, do not give up. Work for your goal on a daily basis. There will be difficulties. Try to draw the positive out of tough situations and difficulties."

His role model is captain of Indian one-day cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "In fact, watching cricket is my hobby. I wanted to become a cricketer when I was a child. Till now I have not missed any world cup match India has played in. I did not give watching cricket even while studying," he says with a smile.

Asked if cricket did not interfere with studied and if his parents object to it, he says, "No. They knew that I would study the amount I have planned for the day. They were never worried about my studies. I used to adjust my study timings. Of course, if there was a cricket match on the eve of an exam, I would opt to study." Apart from watching cricket, Sirajuddin loves visiting the beach as he says it refreshes his mind.

Sirajuddin was mentored by CA Vijay Kumar Shetty and CA Kiran Vasanth. "They helped me a lot in this journey. Among my friends in the office, Pratap Kumar helped me alot. He is also my best friend," he says.

He now plans to start his own CA firm. As he is still doing articleship, he says he will think about it after April. Sirajuddin is sure of one thing - that he will not go abroad as he feels there is no future there, and wants to establish himself in his hometown itself.