INTERVIEW OF AIR 3 HARSHA C. BHATTAD BY CA NITIN SONI

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Harsha

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Hi, Below We Are Showing you the Interview of AIR 3 Harsha C. Bhattad by CA Nitin Soni, Harsha bhattad is a CA Final All india Rank 3 Holder. So Check the Interview of Interview of AIR 3 Harsha C. Bhattad by CA Nitin Soni Below.

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INTERVIEW

CA Nitin Soni: How do you feel… now that you are a Chartered Accountant?

Harsha: This is really an honorary feeling. I know this is not something that I am used to… but surely this is a wonderful and satisfactory feeling.

CA Nitin Soni: Were you expecting a Rank?

Harsha: Actually, exams preparations to aise hi kiye the maine… Rank 3 is a surprise but I was preparing with a rank in mind.

CA Nitin Soni: Now that you have got AIR 3, do you think you could have improved your ranking… could have got AIR 1 or 2?

Harsha: Yes…Absolutely! In fact the guy who got AIR 1 would be thinking the same thing… he could have done more and scored more. So this tendency is there and I too think that if I had done more I could have achieved more.

CA Nitin Soni: Were you a rank holder in CPT and IPCC?

Harsha: Yes I got rank in both CPT & IPCC, In CPT it was 12 and IPCC it was 23.

CA Nitin Soni: Harsha, how important do you think hard work is for CA Final or for entire CA course?

Harsha: I would like to give a diplomatic answer… hard work is important for all competitive exams but specially in CA, people & students have this thinking that one has to study for very long hours… 15-18 hours a day to clear exam and become a CA. But I believe our CA curriculum and pattern is such that not hard study but smart study is important.

CA Nitin Soni: Fantastic!! I think that’s a very valid point..

Harsha: Yaa… you know I used to go out with friends and watch movies and people around used to say that you are going out for movies etc.. but I used to say that I know what my targets are and if I have achieved them then I can do what I want and enjoy as well.

CA Nitin Soni: Right, but Harsha, what exactly do you mean by smart study?

Harsha: Ok. By smart study I mean two things. One is to know what Institute expects out of a Chartered Accountant. E.g. is, people know a provision but they cannot present it… probably because they don’t know what the Institute is expecting out of it. The second is that a lot of students do not believe in ICAI study material… the modules and RTP and other reference books etc. They think coaching material is sufficient.

CA Nitin Soni: Yup!

Harsha: Rather, you know there were some bad experiences for me. Once I got this rank, I have been getting so many calls from across India. I won’t take names but I got calls from few professors as well who literally asked me, where I have taken the coaching from… what notes I followed but no one actually asked me what exactly was my strategy!

CA Nitin Soni: I see, So basically you are trying to say that use ICAI study modules and RTP and suggested etc.

Harsha: Yes. Because that helps us understand what the Institute expects from us. Professors do make things easy for us with their notes and all but referring ICAI material helps us understand Institute’s expectations.

CA Nitin Soni: Right, by the way Harsha, did you take any coaching?

Harsha: Yaa…ofcourse Yes.

CA Nitin Soni: ok. Now I am trying to think from a student’s perspective. Apart from the coaching academy or professor’s notes you also referred ICAI modules & RTPs and other study materials..?

Harsha: Yes. Professors’ notes I might have done once or twice but study modules and all I have done thoroughly.

CA Nitin Soni: ok. Tell me, how many hours preparation did you put in? Ek din me kitne ghante padhte the ?

Harsha: I started with like… 10-12 hours. But in the last 2 months I increased it to 12-14 or even 15-16 hours as well.

CA Nitin Soni: Right. So basically it was a combination of hard work and smart work.

Harsha: Ya exactly. There is no point putting in number of hours without a strategy and quality.

CA Nitin Soni: Correct. Accha ek baat batao, how did you manage to retain such a huge syllabus? Did you employ any special techniques for subjects like ISCA?

Harsha: Yes. I had to. They are not my core subjects. They are not my expert area so I had to. Right.. but here too it was a combination of study techniques and understanding the basic concept. So yes, I did make my own flow charts etc… say for example in Income Tax there are overlapping provisions so I made my own notes and charts to understand this is this and this is that.

CA Nitin Soni: What is the importance of Revision.

Harsha: Laughs. I cannot tell you… (Laughs) but it the THE MOST important thing.

CA Nitin Soni: ok Let me put it this way… How was your revision schedule like… topic by topic revise karte the ya poori book..?

Harsha: Initially for first reading it was 2 subjects per day. So that it doesn’t get too monotonous. I actually did 3 revisions and that time I used to pick 3 subjects at a time and then I devoted time to them like before lunch ye karna hai. .. after lunch ye karna hai… or after breakfast ye… so it was like that. So time frames were there… but there were also mini time frames. And it’s not that at the time of revision I was revising EVERYTHING. In fact at the time of first reading only I decided that this is important and this is not. And if something is not that important to main apni language me summary bna leti thi . And I also used marker etc.

CA Nitin Soni: So we can say that you revised each subject 3 -4 times?

Harsha: Yes. 3 -4 times to ho hi gya tha.

CA Nitin Soni: Ok Harsha, did you prepare any brief notes while studying to revise later on?

Harsha: Yes. I had to. I used to jot down what are important points and all. I used to make charts and all those things.

CA Nitin Soni: so you agree that application of 80-20 rule is important. Like covering up 10 year papers (scanners) Amendments etc.

Harsha: Yes. Absolutely. But I would also like to state that students generally notice that few questions are asked in the past exams from a topic and they prepare only those past questions. But in reality they should understand that that topic is important. And a new questions may be asked which was not asked before. So it’s important to understand that which topic is important.

CA Nitin Soni: How crucial is the overall environment for studies. Your friends, family, relatives etc.

Harsha: It is crucial and it is very pressurizing as well (Laughs).

CA Nitin Soni: Ya.. so how did you handle the pressure then?

Harsha: Just keep going… there is no other option. You just have to keep going.

CA Nitin Soni: Right. And how important is sacrifice for a CA student?

Harsha: Sacrifice is there and its worth it.

CA Nitin Soni: Do you believe in this – I CAN attitude. Believing that you can be a CA and you CAN get a Rank.

Harsha: Absolutely! Absolutely. I truly believe in that. I cannot deny that. In CPT I didn’t believe that I would get a Rank but I did but then in IPCC and Final I believed that I will get a rank and I got.

CA Nitin Soni: What is important of these 2 letters in front of your name now – CA.

Harsha: Laughs… It was all for these 2 letter only. The entire fight and everything…

CA Nitin Soni: Why did you decide to be a CA?

Harsha: I’ll be very open in answering this. The point is I come from a Marwari family and it is in their blood. You know… calculating… the cost benefit analysis, tax outlay etc. and since childhood I have seen my dad and my uncles doing it all so of-course slowly and steadily It started getting this in my mind, was elder sister also a Chartered Accountant and a couple of other things happened and I decided that yes CA is the thing for me.

CA Nitin Soni: Right. So now that you are a CA. What are you going to do?

Harsha: Core Chartered Accountancy things are not on my list now. So I am planning to appear for CAT exam and may be I get involved in investment banking and all… lets see how things work out.

CA Nitin Soni: Great Harsha.. lastly anything you’d like to say or share with the aspiring Chartered Accountants?

Harsha: I thing I have said everything but one thing I would like to say is its all about these 3-4 months before the exams. Its tough and at times we loose out confidence.. but just believe in yourself and the people around you. Fix the target and keep going. This attitude makes you do things.. it really does that.

CA Nitin Soni: Fantastic! ok.. Just one last questions Harsha. You know, even after putting hard work & doing smart studies and even after believing and doing everything else – You Fail. Then how to keep going?

Harsha: Hmm… (thinks).. ok.. Honestly I don’t know because I have not failed in CA Exams. But ofcourse I have seen a lot of people actually putting in a lot of hard work and they were not through. It happened with my friends… But I realized that they are the victim of the habit of putting in a lot of hard work but not on quality stuff… so somewhere that fact is missing. This is what I truly believe. You know, at times even I have wondered about people who were merit holders in school but couldn’t clear in CA. I know so many people around me. But I think there is probably a lack of focus… missing quality or ofcourse there has to be something… and you have to find out yourself because no one can tell you… not your professors or no one.

CA Nitin Soni: Yes… No one… I think what you said really makes sense,Harsha. Thank you very much! All your answers were fantastic and straight from heart. This was really amazing! and All the best to CA Harsha now.

Harsha: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed it. Thank you!

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