All my life I heard that one should study conceptually but not simply mug up.
As I appeared for CA exams and cleared them, I feel the above statement is totally false.
When I was in articleship, a client came to my boss and was asking some question.
My boss immediately called me up to the room and said, “Bring that Bharat’s 4th Edition book and open Chapter-VI, Case CIT Vs Tafe Tractors Ltd.”
I still remember the look on the client’s face when my boss said that. He looked at my boss as if he had just discovered fire or cured cancer.
Even I was taken aback by my boss’s incredible memory power.
I have had these types of instances over a hundred times during my articleship.
Now, having said this, I don’t think my boss has no conceptual knowledge of laws. He does. But at the same time, he also uses his brain to memorize things.
Memory is a Skill, Not a Shortcut
In IPCC, in papers like Strategic Management and Auditing, you are bound to memorize and mug up things. It’s a talent.
Even in the Final Law exam, you will be asked, “What is the penalty amount for a particular mistake or non-compliance?”
Spend enough time on understanding the concepts, but spend the remaining time to memorize things. There is nothing wrong in that.
A successful Chartered Accountant must have both conceptual skill and memory skill.
Sharpen your brain and improve its memory skill while you are still a student.
The more you practice memorizing, the better your brain improves that skill and the easier it becomes in your professional life.
Great Minds Memorize Too
In an interview, one of the world’s richest persons, Warren Buffet, said when he was a kid, he memorized all major cities’ population in the USA, just for fun.
Now you go to him and ask, “Mr. Buffet, what is the gross sales of Coca-Cola in 2001?” He will give you the exact number instantly.
Even today, Buffet remembers that Omaha’s population in 1931 was 2,04,975. Doctors memorize all types of scientific names, medicines, etc.
Successful engineers memorize thousands of chemical compounds. So, students, it’s the combination of heart and brain.
Understanding the concepts is for your heart, for you to be happy that you learned something new.
But memorizing is for your brain. Both are equally important.
