The subject I am in love with – Accounting helped me make sense of scams!
Sourav Panda is a final year Commerce student studying at Khallikote Autonomous College, Berhampur. He does not fall short of words while describing himself — A foodie. A dreamer. A wanna-be journalist-actor-director-advertising guru-psychologist-social entrepreneur. An extrovert. A movie-buff. A Shahrukh Khan fan. A George-Clooney admirer. An occasional blogger. A Facebook addict.
His article about his favourite subject won him Internshala’s second guest article writing contest. Read yourself to see why.
The Indian education system no doubt attracts a lot of criticism about its vocational counter-parts. Arguments start flaring up regarding the application of whatever we study during our school and college days, in our day-to-day life. I am still to find a day when I put into use the complex mathematical formulae I’ve learnt. Those nerve-wracking algebraic theorems, the brain-twisting complex chemical equations, ah! How I managed to pass my boards! But after my tenth I got into a stream which is famous for being truly vocational in its approach. Commerce! Wise men told me, “Whatever you study is directly relevant to everyday life.” Now, five years of commerce-education and I tell those wise men one thing, “True that!”
Commerce has a wide range of subjects to study. Of them, my favourite subject is Accountancy. It scores over the others because of its usability on a daily basis. Everyone, from the vendor selling balloons during festivals to the accountant in the ‘big-four’, maintains accounts. Ever seen your grocery shop owner quickly jotting down figures in a small note-book or your mom calculating the average expenses at the end of every month? If yes, that, my friend, will be accounting. Some do it in a sophisticated way on computers using easy-to-use software, and some do it in a small notebook. But the motive behind it is the same – recording transactions, minimizing expenses, increasing savings, and enhancing profitability.
My love for Accounting dates back to 2008 — my initial days of eleventh standard, Commerce. The days when the sayings of the wise men proved to be true: whatever I studied, I saw and used in my daily life.
In the initial introduction classes, the teachers explained to us some basic words. Little did I know then, that in the coming years, the news papers and the news correspondents will reiterate these terms so much more diligently than the national anthem. Little did I realize then that these words were soon going to be a part of our Bible albeit in a negative sense. ‘Balance sheets’, ‘Creditors’, ‘Credit’, ‘Assets’, ‘Embezzlement’ and many more high-sounding words greeted us every day in our classrooms. For people who could not relate, recall the daily news rants during the scam-weekends. Don’t our journalists and politicians make us parrot these words during the peak-scam- intervention-days?
When I was introduced to these terms, I wasn’t as interested as I became a little later. I scored average marks during my first quiz, but coming soon was a quick ‘brush-up’ session by ‘industry experts’. The scam at Satyam was on its way to help me prepare for my mid-terms. The first time I saw it being flashed on the screens, I had three text-books open in front of me and numerous tabs opened on my computer screen. I became a voracious reader and an avid researcher of all the accounting jargon and accounts-related scams. Next thing I know, I was the topper in Accountancy. Vocational, true, but so much relevant!
As kids, we loved when a product we possessed was shown on the television. I still remember how gleefully I used to dance when they advertised the same chocolate I had just had. A similar elation continued when my knowledge was yet again tested during my first year-graduation in commerce, through the Commonwealth Games scam. I was delighted when I didn’t have to open those text books again. I knew what those terms meant, and what exactly the nuisance was that the elites were blabbering about.
Pretty soon there were others, some regional and some known as the mothers- fathers-uncles of scams. And to keep me abreast of more illustrations, India keeps coming up with bigger and better demonstrations now and then.
Commerce, especially Accountancy, has made me a lot wiser. Had it not been for Commerce, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the scam-weekends as much. I wouldn’t have delved deep into their history. Maybe I would have still learnt those important terms of commerce, but to feel those words by heart? – takes learning to a much higher level.
Hence, for me, accounting it is!
PS: I don’t enjoy the destruction and loss that happens in our country after the scams. In fact, I would, to an extent, endorse the condign punishment which the scamsters deserve. But relating whatever you study with everyday life is a pleasurable experience; and being in a country like ours, where the frequency of scams is like the frequency of new movie releases, the pleasure is definitely achieved!
It probably depends on the person. Most people begin in accounting as it is a business degree allowing one to succeed with a technical mindset. Most accounts I know describe themselves as “numbers people”, and many would be just as happy in an engineering/science role.
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