"Don't STOP dreaming just because you had a nightmare" - this quote is apt for CA Nimisha Salampuria. Coming from a small town with big dreams, Nimisha has proven that even the worst of results in the life of a CA student can be turned around in just 2 months. So hear it from the lady herself as she shares her journey of becoming a CA and how she changed her fortunes in just 2 months between the May'19 and Nov'19 attempts.
CA Nimisha Salampuria
My Journey - The Happiest Moments
Well...it was 16th January 2020...I was in the office as it was announced that the results will be out in the evening. But we all know that our beloved ICAI loves to surprise us, especially on the day of the results. So yeah... the results were out suddenly at around 3'o clock in the afternoon! As soon as I got to know about it, I called my father to pick me up as I was too nervous to check it in the office.
Well, to be honest, I would say I was afraid of any emotional breakdown that could have happened in front of my colleagues if I wouldn't have passed. My heart was beating at its fastest pace when on my way back home, I got a call from my brother. I hurriedly picked up the call and his actual words were - "Dono bhai behen pass kar gaye Nimi!!"(We both brother and sister have passed Nimi!!). Yeah... I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought he was making some sort of a joke. So I asked him to send my results to me without even congratulating him. And there it was - CA Nimisha Salampuria!! Yes, I had passed CA with a total of 454 marks in my second attempt.
My Journey - The Pain & Struggle
After reading the first part, if you are wondering why I am here on CA Exam Strategies and sharing my story, please read carefully what comes next.
My first attempt of CA Final was due in May 2019. And guess what, because of the Lok Sabha elections, we also got one month extra to prepare! Trust me, I had studied a lot for my first attempt (I even sacrificed my phone totally for a few months). Yet I couldn’t make it.
In hindsight, I feel that the only thing that led me to my failure in my first attempt was my self-doubt and the habit of over-thinking. During the first few months of my preparation, I was quite confident, but as time passed, so did my confidence. Every now and then, I started to panic and doubt myself - what if I forget all the things which I am studying now? What if I fail? What if the question comes very tricky this time as the exams are happening later than usual? ...and a lot more of such "what ifs" used to occupy my mind continuously 24*7. Gradually, it started to affect my preparations and my sleep too. Although I used to sit with my books the entire day, but as we all know, quality matters over the hours of studying. I used to sit with the book open, but my mind was always engaged in unnecessary thoughts and self-made scenarios. I tried to cover each and everything in all the subjects, as I didn’t wish to leave anything to chance. But as we all know, trying to get too much surety makes you dizzy about your decision. The same thing happened to me.
As days passed, I used to feel an adrenaline rush within my body just at the thought of the CA Final exams. I knew I had to do something, it had started to affect me a bit too much now. And I took a big decision - of letting go of Group 2 and devote all my time to Group 1 to make sure that I pass it for sure. As days passed by, I somehow consoled myself to the fact that it was the right decision for me even though deep down I knew it wasn't. But as you say, your mind believes what you make it to believe and the same happened to me. I tried to make sure that I cover everything (RTPs,MTPs, Practice Manual, Past Papers and a hell lot of things). I was quite confident about clearing Group 1.
Days passed by and the day before the D-day came. My final revision strategy went for a toss. The biggest mistake I made was to decide that I would cover all the RTPs in detail the day before the exam. As a result, I panicked so much that whole night passed and still I wasn't able to sleep even for a second. It was sunrise and I found myself crying like anything because my head was paining so much due to spending the whole night without any sleep. Somehow I gathered the courage and managed to reach the exam center. And upon seeing the paper, I felt like I couldn't do it (To be honest, I had given up in the morning itself). Needless to say, the paper was horrible and I was sure that there is no chance that I would make it. But still I appeared for the rest of the papers somehow, hoping that maybe some miracle would happen. Finally on 14th August 2019, the results were out and yes, I had failed in Accounts. In fact, I had scored just 152 out of 400. Shocking, isn't it? Even after preparing everything, how did I get such less marks?
But trust me, that's the name of the game in CA Finals - Your mindset is more important than preparation and speaking about myself, I had already quit even before appearing for the exams. Yes, I cried a lot that day... Not because I had failed, but because my best friend did it and I was left behind (yeah, I know how weird it sounds now). At that moment, I just remembered the dialogue from the movie 3 Idiots -"Apne fail hone pe jitna bura lagta hai, usse kai jyada bura lagta hai agar dost pass hojaye toh" :)
But I don’t know what made me realize that maybe there was something very positive about that result... I took the printout of my result and stuck it in on the wall of my room. I resolved that no matter what, I will become a Chartered Accountant by Nov 2019 and this result will always tell me not to commit the same mistakes I did in my last attempt.
Since only 2.5 months were left, I knew that I couldn't waste one week crying over my failure. I chalked out a study plan. But this time, not even once did I think whether I should give one or both groups. I only had two letters in my mind throughout the period - "CA".
Those 2.5 months were not at all easy for me. There were several festivals during that time, starting from Raksha Bandhan to Durga Puja to Diwali. (I live in Kolkata, and you can very well imagine the excitement around Durga Puja). But nothing made me deviate from my plan. Destiny tried everything with me - some of my family members even got affected by dengue during that time. Suddenly, a situation of tension started to prevail in my house all the time. All of a sudden, I was surrounded by negativity. But this time I made sure that I will not repeat my mistake at any cost....Yes, I gave up many times in the past, but I made myself believe that it's always the darkest before dawn and that I am going to be a CA this time. I had already learnt my lesson.
Again time passed and it was the day before exam day...This time, I went to bed early. But some things always go wrong, no matter how well you plan it. And again this time, I was not able to sleep the whole night. Somehow I slept for some hours in morning but this time, the only difference that made was my mindset. I appeared for the exams and it went quite well. I guess in Nov 2019, it took the longest for the exams to finish - 19 days in total. Those 19 days were very difficult to survive. But I knew that I have survived 2.5 months and it's just 19 days more to add the prefix to my name. Each day I struggled - someday more, someday less, but I didn't quit this time. I gave my best shot and yes, this time I did not stress on quantity, rather I went for quality. I just made sure that I'll do as much as I can, without compromising on my health. And finally, the exams were over.
Then came 16th Jan, 2020 and my belief turned into a reality. I am still having goosebumps trying to remember what emotions I felt on that very day....in fact there are no words that can justify that feeling. It just felt PERFECT.
And here I am – CA Nimisha Salampuria. So one thing which I would really like to suggest here is that it’s all in the mind - either you fool your mind to think positive or else it will fool you and will fill you with all the negativity. So no matter what, just believe in yourself, dreams do come true!!
I really believe that the past one year has made me really strong as a person. A human being very easily becomes a servant of his thoughts, and this is where the game is lost. Destiny threw all sorts of problems and distractions at me - turbulence in my personal life, festivals, family members falling sick... But in those 2 months, I just wanted to prove it to myself that I was not going to succumb to all this. And for that entire period, I don't know I had a different sort of energy and positivity, maybe Divine, I don't know.
As I now sit and pen this post for you all, I can totally relate to all the students who are not able to clear the exams in the first shot. All I would advise them is to have faith in yourself and try to not repeat your mistakes.
Don't STOP dreaming just because you had a nightmare! Dreams do come true!!
PS: It went too long but I just poured out my heart here...
This was Nimisha's journey - a truly an inspirational one. I have to admit that I have not seen this kind of determination and resolve in too many people, that too on the day you come face to face with that sort of a result. The way she treated CA as a tapasya and did not get distracted with all that was happening around her is absolutely admirable. What must also be appreciated is the mental strength and positivity she showed in quickly realizing her mistakes and converting them into her strengths in CA Final.
I am extremely thankful to Nimisha for taking the time out and penning down this wonderful post for CA Exam Strategies. I sincerely hope this post would add some fire to the fuel amongst the readers to fight against all odds and negativities and focus solely on their target - the dream to be a CA.
If you have any observations, comments, questions or feedback - either for me or for Nimisha, please let me know in the comments section below.
Thanks for reading :)
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