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CA is a tough nut but can be cracked if hard work and dedication are your bolts: Nishanth Mallya

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Mangaluru: Chartered Accountancy aka CA is tough nut to crack for many of us. But here is our very own Nishanth Mallya, born and brought up in Mangaluru who has cleared both the groups in CA in his first attempt.

In an exclusive chat with newskarnataka‘s Divya Cutinha, he shares his journey.

Here are the excerpts:

nishanth mallya 3

What made you pick CA as a career option?

Most of my friends chose the commerce stream after clearing our board exams and that is how I ended up in the stream.

The most common course that every commerce graduate aspires for is MBA and shies away from the CA course citing its difficulty. It was more of a curiosity and the desire to stand apart in the crowd which drove me to write the foundation exam (1 out of the 3 exams) in the first year of my graduation which I cleared in the first attempt itself. After that there was no looking back.

So, what was the preparation strategy?

The course includes three years of articleship wherein a student is supposed to get trained under a CA firm and only after successfully learning for two and a half years is a candidate eligible. In these two and a half years, there is lot of pressure and the work load is just too much to start with the preparation. However, the institute expects every student to start preparations from the day they join articleship. So it all boils down to four months of leave during which we need to cover vast portions.

Strategy is just discipline and a fixed routine which includes being ‘anti-social’ and giving up everything else for these four months. All we need to do is focus and handle the pressure. 

Is coaching important?

Coaching is definitely important because CA final is a course which includes subjects which we wouldn’t have been exposed to all our lives and coping up with this vast portion is difficult. So coaching is definitely required for couple of core subjects but definitely not for all.

The most important thing about coaching is just to get the basic concepts right. It alone never helps us clear the exams. Finally it comes to down to rigorous self-study to build up on the concepts learnt.

This is one course which definitely cannot be spoon fed.

Do you advice studying for long hours?

I think what is more important is having a planned approach and a scheduled daily routine. If one is able to start studying one year before the exams then definitely such long hours are not necessary. However, if someone is starting studies in the last four months, the basic requirement is 10 hours a day. At the same time, one should not forget that 7-8 hours of sleep is yet another basic requirement because such rigorous studies cause a lot of mental stress and sleep is definitely a necessity.

Any tough subjects in specific?

I don’t think this course has any easy subjects. Every subject is important on its own. It all comes down to the concepts-once the concept is clear, the subjects automatically become easy.

CA is tough: Truth or myth?

CA is not really tough in itself but it’s definitely vast. The volume and range of subjects is vast-from accounts to law; share markets to information technology, it’s a complete package. This makes the course challenging and stand out from the other courses.

What’s your advice to future aspirants?

Well those who have already entered the course would have definitely realised by now that this course is no cake walk and it requires that dedication to work hard. To those who are planning to join, make sure you are ready to make lots of sacrifices and work hard but definitely pursue it because in the end it’s all worth the effort put in.

Who are the people you would like to thank specially?

I would definitely want to thank my family for having faith and being there for me, especially my brother who is a Chartered Accountant himself and who is my role model. Also I would like to thank Usha Kiran Ma’am, my mentor for all the guidance and definitely Grant Thornton- the firm where I did my articleship because the kind of exposure and training we get during the three crucial years is something that really counts.

Tell us something more about yourself.

I was born and brought up in Mangalore. I did my schooling in St.Aloysius College and my graduation in SDM College. I cleared all the three CA foundation exams in my first attempt. This apart, I am a national level swimmer and I have won a gold medal. I love bike riding and high altitude treks.

Both my brother and his wife are chartered accountants and I will be the third one in the family. 

Currently, I am working in Grant Thornton, Bangalore-one of the top 10 accounting firms in the world.

CA is a tough nut but can be cracked if hard work and dedication are your bolts: Nishanth Mallya
CA is a tough nut but can be cracked if hard work and dedication are your bolts: Nishanth Mallya
CA is a tough nut but can be cracked if hard work and dedication are your bolts: Nishanth Mallya

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