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!