Hardly 3 months in Lko, CS aspirant gets his happiest day

LUCKNOW: For Haryana youth Vivek Choudhary, his happiest day came within three months of moving to Lucknow. On Thursday, when the company secretaries’ exam results were announced, the first-year IIM-L management student topped the rankings.

“I did not expect a rank; didn’t actually bother to check the list either,” said the 21-yearold who is studying at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. “A friend tipped me of the result. I couldn’t believe it—till I myself saw it on the website.”

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India released on August 22 the All India Provisional Merit List of CS Professional Programme and CS Executive Programme. Choudhary came first in its new syllabus, the exam for which he gave in June.

“For me, becoming a company secretary itself is a huge success,” said the topper, who enjoys watching movies on weekends and play badminton in spare time. “I’m excited that I could make my parents proud. My first call was to my mother who has been my support and inspiration.”

If his mother, Sarita Choudhary, is a homemaker, his father is a trader. Sajjan Kumar Choudhary, who is a native of Bhiwani district, deals with the sale of iron and steel. “At one stage not long ago, my family faced a lot of financial difficulties. But my parents overcame the crisis,” he recalled. “It interested me to find out how to deal shortage of money. This was how I decided to pursue a career in finance.”

During his school days initially, Chowdhury was a largely withdrawn boy. “It was while in class 9 I developed interest in commerce as a subject and decided to choose it as a career option,” he said, acknowledging the role of his alma mater, Don Bosco School at Howrah’s Liluah, in changing his personality. “I began understanding the importance of interpersonal relations.”

Choudhury, who went on to graduate from Kolkata’s St Xaviers’ College, is also pursuing chartered accountancy and chartered secretary courses to shape up his professional and technical knowledge.

I believe education is the guiding light for improved standards of living. If I am asked to define my ultimate goal concisely, it would be to bring about a revolution in education VIVEK CHOUDHARY

A year’s internship he did with Ernst and Young in Kolkata gave Choudhary new light about his professional capacities. “While auditing books, I realised that I am not a detail-oriented person. And that I like to look at the larger picture that can bring some value addition to my clients and improve their efficiency,” he recalled. “Hence, I decided to pursue MBA.”

Apart from academics, Choudhary is also associated with Dasnagar Freedom Welfare Foundation for the past one-anda-half years. It is an NGO that helps underprivileged children by quenching their thirst of knowledge and education.

“I had taken up the responsibility of garnering sufficient funds for the organisation by actively organising its periodic events and I also taught and mentored five such students,” said Choudhury.

So, how difficult was the CS examination? “Unlike most professional courses, CS has a very comprehensive syllabus,” he said.” There are nine subjects, multiple laws and thousands of provisions which sometimes get on your head. But all that is required to ace this challenge is commitment, hard work, focus and a lot of sacrifices in terms of social media and parties. It just requires an extra effort from the examinee’s side,”

According to Choudhury, CAT or CS are different ballgames. “CAT tests analytical, qualitative and logical skills while CS deals with applications in various domains of business, like law, taxation, and governance,” he said. “Both are highly competitive but comparing them is not justified.”

For now, Vivek wants to become an investment banker. “But that is not my ultimate goal in life. My dream is to contribute towards the development of society through education,” he said. “I believe education is the guiding light for improved standards of living.

If I am asked to define my ultimate goal concisely, it would be to bring about a revolution in education.”