Hi! I am Rahul Chhattani
Much like everyone, my CA journey too was not easy, except that I had to battle my own body to achieve my CA dreams!
It was my mother who coaxed me to pursue the CA program. She insisted that it was the most reputed and dynamic career path full of incredible roles and responsibilities.
As for me, I was a pretty enthusiastic kid with a great interest in sports and extra-curricular.
So, I took up the challenge.
I breezed through the CPT and IPCC, scoring 174/200 and 433/700, respectively.
Now, I had ample time for CA finals as I had prepared a well-structured schedule to maximize the prep time I could get for my CA finals.
At the same time, I was also going through some family problems along with some challenging life struggles, and I knew that the only way I could emerge victorious out of all of them was by clearing my CA finals.
Everything was going well till March 2018 when it suddenly didn't.
Battling Eczema while preparing for finals
In the last week of March, I started feeling stiffness in my left arm.
Each of my fingers began shedding skin until all 10 of them were peeling off. It was painful, incredibly itchy, and irritating.
The same thing happened to my feet.
Within the first week of April, I was beginning to lose sensitivity in my hands and feet. I felt incredible pain, couldn't hold a pen or paper, and couldn't even sleep properly.
Perhaps the worst pain of it all was that this was all happening amid the most crucial months of my life.
I was finally referred to a dermatologist who immediately started treatment for what he informed me was dry hand Eczema.
High fevers, heavy breathing, elevated heartbeat, and severe headache were some of the things that accompanied my Eczema. (I later found out that they were all bi-products of liver damage)
Things were so bad that my mother had to bathe and feed me.
And at the time, all I could do was cry, and wonder why it was happening to me!
One week later, I had some blood tests done and got to found out that I was also carrying incredible liver damage.
Long story short, I was hospitalized immediately for 3 days, and all my hopes of becoming a CA in the first attempt were absolutely broken.
I was put on a liquid diet and lost considerable weight.(around 15 kg!) In short, life had taken a dull turn!
Fighting for perseverance
I had always been a big fan of cricketers!
Their lives have inspired me in more than one way. Dhoni went on to become the most regarded cricketer from being a ticker collector. Virat Kohli scored a Ranji century the next day his father died. Yuvraj led India to win a world cup while suffering from cancer!
I firmly believed that if they could do all of that and succeed, then so could I.
Although I had almost given up on clearing the exams on the first attempt, I soldiered through with the preparation.
The major problem was that holding a pen was difficult because my fingers used to start bleeding.
Furthermore, I used to have a continuous fever, so I requested BOS ICAI to grant me a special provision of a bench with a cooler because, in my condition, I couldn't write the exam in the May heat.
But they just advised me to skip the attempt as they couldn't provide me with those facilities at the time.
Of course, that wasn't a possibility.
So after steeling my resolve and strengthening my will, I decided to go for the exam.
I used some bandages for my hands and fingers, and on 2nd May 2018, I set off for the examination.
Even after the bandages, the fingers still bled, but I managed to power through.
Once the first exam was done, I got motivated to write all of them. And that's what I did.
I don't know how I managed to do it, but I did know that my mother's blessings were at play somehow.
After the last exam, I had a feeling that I would not have to give the exams again.
So, we waited.
Finally becoming CA
The result of my endeavors came on 20 July 2018, and I came through. I had become a CA!
My mother's blessings had come through for me. I scored 480/800.
It was a tough battle won, and I couldn't be more proud.
It took me additional 6 months to get healthy and my perspective of life had transformed forever.
I truly realized the meaning of hard work and perseverance after attaining my goal of clearing the CA finals on the first attempt.
Even after my qualification, I kept expanding my horizons and laying the foundation for my professional life.
I went on to become the Assistant Manager of taxation at ClearTax, Mumbai.
Later on, I became the Manager of Finance & Accounts at Waterfield financial & investment advisors Pvt. Ltd. (I am currently pursuing this role)
I'll say this though, it has been hell of a ride.
It's true that my journey has been full of ups and downs, but looking back at it, I don't ever regret choosing the CA course.
Thanks for Reading!
Want to communicate directly to CA Rahul Chhattani? Hit him up on Rahul.chhattani.9@gmail.com
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