40 Years of Employment -- Gratitude Series 1

 

I completed 40 years of being employed  continously recently - That was a long period of time and many others  like me would have crossed this milestone in their careers. I wanted to use this milestone to thank so many people who have helped, provided me with opportunities, supported me, trusted me and wholeheartedly wanted me to do well. 

My first thanks of course goes to the Almighty for his abundant blessings.

My first full time employment started in Aug 1984 enrolling myself as a Articled Assistant to pursue my Chartered Accountancy (CA). Before getting to this point, my whole career was shaped up by one of my mother’s cousins who I took as a role model  and got in to  Commerce Stream - V S Kumar or Kumar Anna to me was the guiding force for me to get into the commerce stream. He spoke to me a lot in my younger days, in deciding what one wants to be and what your liking was and was fierce in advising me to make decisions on my own. That advice stood by me through this decade. My gratitude to Kumar Anna for all that he has done in shaping me for my professional life.

The story of my enrolling into my CA Journey was not that simple. Having decided to pursue CA, I wrote the entrance exam and cleared it in May 1984. At that time, I was in my second year of my Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) at Loyola Evening  College 

Options available in front of me were:

1. Quit college, continue my B.Com through distance learning, join CA articleship
2. Continue at the College (Evening College) but find an articleship to pursue CA at the same time.

 

I did not want to give up on the lovely college life and college mates. So I decided to continue my college and look for a firm that will employ me.

I did not realize that it was a tough task. I visited several firms – Most of them did not take me in because I had to go to college by 5:30 P M  – I also wanted an office closer to college so that I could avoid travel time in the evening. I did not give up trying.  Every day i will visit atleast two firms .Any Chartered Accountant office that I found closer to my college , I would walk in and ask if they had a vacancy. I applied to the Big Four’s well. One of them responded with a come see us after two years (they had a waiting line of 2 years!). I did not give up trying at any point.

 

Finally, one of my good friend’s father who was a CA himself referred me to this  person who gave me the opportunity. When I went to his office, I thought one more to add to the list ( of rejects ) But he surprised me straightaway asking me where the forms were, that he could sign me in to start. That just shook me up. I rushed to the CA Institute and got the forms and in no time, they were signed up and I had to start the next day. He encouraged me saying that I should continue my college and complete both degrees. My principal Mr. B Gopalakrishnan is no more but his strong words of encouragement helped me to stay focused . It was an opportunity that he gave that just fast tracked my academic journey, I stayed in touch through these years till he passed away.

I also had great support from the principal of the evening college at Loyola . It was a struggle to complete office at 5, then find an optimal transport ( Cost effective ) to reach college by 5:30. Best of my efforts, I would still end up late by 15 minutes . It was not just me but seven others of my college mates who had the same issue. Mustering courage all of us went and met Fr C K Swamy (late) and told him about our problem. Fr CK Swamy asked all of us to write a letter to him explaining our problem. He signed on all our letters, saying “Excused for First Period”. That was again a big help to the eight budding CAs.

The first part ends with a great thanks to these people who helped in the journey.

Mr V S Kumar is a Commerce graduate of R A Poddar College Mumbai , MBA from IIM A , Cost Accountant and a Company Secretary worked in several leading companies . Now retired he does what he likes best in his available time -- Teaching