Well, this is my first article on this forum, I have lately developed a passion for writing and have received fabulous responses from a lot of people! Kudos to the taxguru.in team who reached out to me and have invited me to share my thoughts on this forum! It’s an honor to be able to express myself on another platform.
I aim to share a perspective to help any person by bringing some level of change in his/her thought process towards the simple things in life. CA course is one of the most popular courses in the commerce stream, we all have certain thought processes which we develop throughout pursuing the course. Its certain aspects need questioning and some level of introspection. I have nothing against the course in particular, though, it’s only a matter of looking at it from another way.
Often in life, we are constantly conditioned to look at things in a certain way that is never challenged or critically analyzed. It is at these times that we need another lens to look at things so that they can be perceived accordingly.
Emotional attachment–in simple terms, it can be expressed as attachment psychologically, where emotions are heavily invested into something. When anything untoward happens that we feel our entire life is a mess. To give an analogy, all of us are deeply attached to our parents, siblings, friends, and other people, as may be. If anything happens to either of them, what do we feel? (E.g. grave illness)
- Mentally in a constant state of fear/threat
- How can I live without this person?
- Will my life ever be normal beyond this point?
Now, how do these phenomena apply to any educational degree? For that, first, we need to be clear on the aspect of what any educational degree will help us attain?
It can be summarized:
- Put you in a position in the job market so that you can market yourself.
- Knowledge
- If the course offers placement as a part of it, you can access the job market more easily.
Apart from the aforesaid, there is nothing that a degree can offer you. Be it the finest University degree or any other thing. Coming to CA in particular, or any other degree, where we have immense emotions being attached to this degree.
- Is there any use in attaining a CA degree after the age of 30?
- At the age of 52 years, CA course advisable or not?
- CA final at the age of 36 years?
- At the age of 32 CA or CS – which is beneficial?
Just have a look at the questions on various forums being asked. A person at 30 or above is still feeling the urge to keep re-appearing! Well, that’s entirely up to him/her. My purview of this lies is why does one needs to be so hooked on this 1 thing in the world? There are ample other options a person can pursue if he has complete knowledge of this curriculum but has merely not satisfied the marking criteria. Well, that is another matter of dispute given the number of fallacies in our system.
A straightforward reason for this would be the ’emotional attachment’ getting involved. How does this emotional attachment come?
- The Glory Attached to it
It’s not uncommon to keep viewing people watch these types of articles/Blog posts/YouTube videos constantly praising some individuals that as CAs they have reached their feat merely because of CA. Well, there is nothing wrong to appreciate someone’s achievement rather the aspect to be considered is the misrepresentation of that person’s achievement and the cause of it.
An example: In the case of Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.
“(K.M Birla) He did his high school at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics and a bachelor’s degree from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics of the University of Mumbai. He later studied at London Business School and was awarded MBA from the University of London in 1992. He is also an honorary fellow at LBS. He is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
(Careers part) Birla took over as chairman of the Aditya Birla Group in 1995, at 28, following the death of his father Aditya Vikram Birla. During his tenure as chairman, the group’s annual turnover has increased from US$3.33 Billion in 1995 to US$48.3 billion in 2019 “(Source: Wikipedia)
In one of his interviews, he stated that he never intended to pursue CA rather, he did it because his father insisted on pursuing it and fortunately cleared it. Through this, what do we understand? Is it CA that has brought him to this feat, or was it his effort and his constant persistence? Well, a lot of it has got to with the fact that it was a mere inheritance and nothing to do with the fact that CA has brought him to this position he is today. But this simple fact is constantly being misinterpreted by many people and they constantly propagate that it was the degree of CA that brought him all the awe and the admiration that the world gives upon him today.
- Misinterpretation of the colloquial phrase/proverb “NEVER GIVE UP”
We are constantly bombarded “CA students fight until their last breath,”. “I will either become a CA or I will die trying” I have seen memes on the internet – “Jab tak hai dum, exam denge hum”. What we neglect is ‘never give up‘ does not really mean to keep trying the same thing in life. Rather, a realistic interpretation would be to never give up on life! We all know life is a struggle. It’s the one who knows to roll with the punches wins the battle. Everyone at whatever stage of life is fighting something or the other, but our battles change! We do not keep fighting the same battle repeatedly if it is not meant to be won. It’s shocking to hear so many aspirants aging and yet to clear the course, but they are holding on to it despite the reality being otherwise. It’s the ‘ABILITY TO LET GO‘, we are never told this by anyone. Everyone constantly seeks to validate this act of re-appearing by attaching emotions towards and it is a matter of pride to be re-appearing among the masses. I still remember one person from my building was appearing for 15th time CA Final and remained unmarried for it!
Some of the popular comments you’ll receive if you decide to choose other options:
- It’s been your dream since childhood
- You have invested so much time, money, effort, and energy until now (constantly enduring guilt)
- Don’t let the fire of CA die within you.
- CA will open opportunities for you in the world (like no other options exist in the world!)
A person who is continuing despite the circumstances being unfavorable is someone who has not fathomed the reality and is living in a constant state of denial that nothing really is happening to him and that one day he will reach his so-called destination “CA” after which everything would magically change around him like a Midas touch!
Another example to simplify, the Old course 1st ranker of Nov-2020 attempt claimed it was his 11th attempt. Any rational person can understand a person who was denied the tag of ‘CA’ until 10 times, would be very well versed with the course but simply kept at bay for not fulfilling the marking criteria. What could he have done something different in his approach in the 11th time? I bet you if you ask him in private one-on-one ‘will you pass this attempt of Nov-20?‘ he would not give a subtle assurance. It was merely his fortune turning in his favor. But this can’t be stated as an example to keep trying, as this case is an anomaly. It can’t apply to all.
To put in perspective, if you take a sample of 100 people appearing for this number of times and draw a median data, you would probably find above 95 still stuck in the vicious “May-Nov” cycle. Is it right to use those 5 people as a representation of the act “NEVER GIVE UP”? Next time you hear someone say “never give up” for CA exams, rethink a bit.
- ‘RESPECT’ from Society
Well, this has got to do something with your perception and how much value/importance you give to outside validation and make yourself feel equal with them. To be honest, in any scenario, there are going to be naysayers, even if you would be the finest/sincere student all throughout your life. In the end, just ask yourself, “Whose life am I really living? Are those people coming to support me emotionally when I fail the exam? ”
Yea, if you opted out and go for other options, you won’t get the pleasure of distributing sweets in your neighborhood. Added to that, you would not get the pleasure to pose on LinkedIn with your pile of books and say “I did it” and some receive some comments below “congratulations” Moreover, you won’t get the pleasure to pose for your convocation day as well.
Well, these are the only times “society” praise you and “respect” you. Beyond that, just look around. How much do people really care about what others are doing?
This again is a misrepresented fact that “keep pursuing society will respect you one day” I have nothing personally against the course or the coaching institutes. The aspect that misinterpretation of certain things as mentioned and constant bombarding students with such ideas makes them develop an emotional attachment to the course, which is wrong.
Just as Adolf Hitler said, ‘Tell a lie 100 times, people accept it to be true‘
Let me know your comments! Thank you for reading!
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