Meet Bhramar Jain - AIR-1 January 2021 CA Final Attempt
In our conversation with Bhramar, he talks about the importance of summaries, consistency and also of having the right circle. He also threw light on how co-curricular activities and keeping your stop-watch on are important for being more productive in the hours you study.
Here is the detailed interview of Bhramar with CAclubIndia:-
Heartiest Congratulations to you on securing AIR-1 from the entire team of CAclubindia
Thank You so much Aishna
How are you feeling? Has it sunk in yet that you are AIR-1?
I am definitely on top of the world right now. About the feeling sinking in I'd like to say partly yes, partly no. It's all been about numerous interviews and calls. This is all that has been going on for the past three days.
So the feeling hasn't yet been internalized but somewhere yes because of giving interviews, meeting ministers. This is definitely a different feeling altogether.
Did you also receive a call from the President of ICAI?
No, I didn't receive a call from the President yet. I think the result was scheduled to be released on Sunday so maybe he is yet to call me.
How did you find out that you have secured AIR-1 and what was your immediate reaction?
The results usually come out in the afternoon around 1 PM but the results this time came
Out late in the evening at 10 PM so that day was a day full of frustration. It so happened that I was going to sleep thinking that the result will only be announced tomorrow. I thought I should check the website once before sleeping and when I did the results came. By that time all my family was asleep and when I was entering my roll no and my captcha ID it took me 2-3 minutes itself. My results came 613; as soon as I checked my result I told my brother that please check the merit list and there it was written AIR-1. So that was the overall situation.
You didn't get to tell your parents about the results that day itself?
I immediately woke them up as I got to know that I have secured AIR-1.
What was their reaction?
They were completely awestruck. My mother was scared as to whether I will be able to pass the exams or not so they were definitely on top of the world. My brother immediately posted a status and that night was all about calls.
While you were preparing for your exams did you expect a rank? Did you have any rank in mind?
I have a big answer to that. Actually I had secured AIR-8 in my IPCC Exams as well and my original attempt for CA-Finals was May 2020. So when I had started preparing for my exams I had in mind that I have to secure an All India Rank. I will stand on everybody's expectations. So while I studied for the May'20 exams I studied sincerely and I was hoping that I will be able to secure a rank at least. But after the exams got postponed, cancelled and again postponed I was just like that I have to become a CA and get over with the exams anyhow. So for the January 2021 exams I wasn't very optimistic about a rank. I was thinking that maybe I would land up getting a rank but I was surely optimistic on passing the exams. But getting AIR-1 was truly and wildly unexpected.
You were originally supposed to give the May 2020 exams which got postponed so why did you opt for the Jan'21 exams instead of the Nov/Dec 2020 attempt?
Actually at the end of September I tested Covid positive along with my entire family. So I was hospitalized for 7-8 days and it took me a while to recover. Everybody was too scared at that time of Covid. So my family said that when ICAI had given an option so it was safer to give the exams in Jan'21. So I opted out of the November 2020 attempt.
So Bhramar why don't you tell us something about yourself?
I was born and brought up in Raipur,Chhattisgarh. I did my schooling and my CA IPCC course from here. Then for experiencing the world I did go to Delhi for 8-9 months in my articleship period. I did my articleship from TR Chadha & Company LLP. And then I came back to Raipur and continued to do my rest of the articleship tenure here in my father's office. Actually my father is a Chartered Accountant, my brother is a Chartered Accountant and my sister-in-law is also a Chartered Accountant. So I come from a CA Background.
As for my hobbies I like reading novels, playing PC games, and binge watching which I think everyone does. I am a sports enthusiast and like cycling and trekking too.
So as you said that three people from your family are already Chartered Accountants, you must have received a lot of guidance from them right?
Yes, definitely.
What was your strategy to prepare for the Theory and Practical subjects?
So as you might know that we take our classes during the articleship period. So I made sure that I would complete my syllabus 5-6 months prior to my final exams during the articleship period. So for both practical and theory subjects I depended heavily on the summary. I use to make summaries of every subject and of every chapter in that. So if some teacher was providing us with the summary I use to make sure to implement it and supplement it and make it my own summary. After making a comprehensive summary in the first reading, in the second and the subsequent readings I use to refer to my own summaries and just the questions and not the class books. So somewhere I believe that this strategy helped me alot and we have to make mnemonics for the theory subjects. I would advise not to just use the first words for the mnemonics but the whole word because in the exams you can't remember from which letter does which full form come. So for theory based subjects I would suggest making story-based mnemonics through words.
What was your schedule while studying? Did you study for longer periods of time or did you take regular short breaks?
So whatever I will be sharing right now I will be sharing with the perspective of the studies I prepared during Nov'19- May'20 because post pandemic was postponement and all so that's a whole new thing. So what I used to do is take one subject and complete it. If I didn't complete one subject I wouldn't pick up the book for the next subject. I usually try to sit 10-11 hours per day and whenever I used to start studying I used to keep my phone aside and start the stop-watch in it. Even if I would get distracted for a minute I would pause my stop-watch to find out the number of productive hours in a particular day. So even if productive hours were 9-10 hours that is a lot. You don't have to see how many hours you sit for altogether but to see how much productivity you can get out of a day. So I averaged around 10 hours per day which is quite sufficient.
Did you also take conscious breaks? Like I have studied for 2 hours and now I must take a break.
I am quite a moody person in that regard. It all depends upon my mood and the kind of subject I am studying. Many chapters take 3-4 hours so I don't feel like taking a break in the middle of that if it's interesting. So I used to complete that chapter and then take a break. Some chapters are short and some complex but according to my mood I would take a break. There was nothing fixed as such and was all dependent on my mood.
So as you mentioned before, you have a lot of hobbies like playing PC games, reading novels etc. So how important do you think it is for a CA student to indulge in co-curricular activities?
I think it's very important. If someone asks you to sit for 12 hours straight in a room everyday and just study it is impossible. We have a human brain and it is also important to indulge in other activities. I'd say exercise is compulsory. If you can wake up in the morning and do exercise,meditation or yoga that is compulsory. Apart from that if you follow your passion as in reading novels, jogging, playing guitar so I would say that definitely devote half an hour of time to it. The freshness in your mind from doing these activities can help increase productivity. Even if you are spending less time in your studies those hours would be very productive.
So Bhramar the entire Covid period was very demotivating for students for various reasons. So I would want to know what was your perspective and how you stayed motivated that time?
That was a very challenging time. The speculation that was going on of when the exams will happen,whether they will take place or not was very tough. To maintain focus in these times is very difficult and alot of my time also got wasted in this. I realized that a lot of my time is getting wasted and hence became conscious of it. I use to sit and identify why my time is getting wasted and block those activities which wasted my time. The number one reason for me was Twitter. So what I did was completely cut off from Twitter.
I would like to say that when such unexpected situations occur one must take 1-2 hours off and try to identify the source of distraction and cut it off.
What would you like to say to CA Inter students who have just had their results declared?
I want to say that as we all know that the syllabus of CA surpasses the vastness of the ocean and we prepare very much for it. Exams are just for 100 marks and I believe somewhere that even your luck matters and the type of questions that come also matters. Even if you get a negative result in an attempt it doesn't mean that you're not capable or aren't technically sound. Everyone knows the amount they've studied and their self-worth so I would say that don't get demotivated or don't marginalize yourself after seeing your results. Even if it is negative, stay motivated as you know your self-worth and without any further ado start preparing for the next attempt.
Is there anything you would like to share with the CA Community through CAClubIndia?
So basically I would like to share my success mantra which is the sort of thing I have come with. I believe that there are three pillars to success in the CA examination which are:-
- Consistency- Showing consistency throughout your classes by showing up each time and don't miss your classes unless very necessary to do so. In the CA Course you mostly don't have college so classes are not to be missed at least.
- Summaries- This course is very vast so make sure to make personal summaries and personal notes of every subject.
- Having a good friend circle- In the CA course it is very difficult to sit alone and study as it is very frustrating and you would get tired. It is important to make a good friend circle, discuss with them be it mnemonics and have group studies so it will help you a lot.
If you follow these three pillars I am sure you will succeed.
That's very good and Thank You once again for sharing your journey with us and for giving really valuable tips to the CA Community and the CA Inter students and we wish you all the luck in life. Thank You so much.
Thank you
This interview was taken by Aishna Kukreja, Assistant Editor- CAClubIndia
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