CA T Mahalakshmi - As told to CA Sripriya Kumar
My name is Mahalakshmi and I am yet another CA working
for yet another MNC – A Manager in Shell, in this case !. So what’s different
you may ask for there are thousands in the same league as I am. This is another
day when Lohitaksh my son, hurriedly packs my lunch box and chides me to leave
quickly lest I be late for office
I have been receiving a continuous spate of calls from
Sripriya, my principal during articles ( I was her first article ) asking me to
write my story to inspire students and women CA’s. These are the most
valuable lessons I learnt in life. I don’t expect this to work for every
one but if you have the will, it sure will !
One, The language of hardwork
I studied in a Tamil medium school till Class XII and
even English was taught in Tamil. I managed to cope somehow and here I
am. The language of communication, I learnt is only second to the
language of hard work.
Two, Dreams matter – distance does’nt
If I sum all the total distance I have traveled by all
modes, I could cover the earth once. My residence, office, classes were
all far away. But I enjoyed it all thoroughly
Three, The power of a parent
My success is my dedication to my father – a tailor who
did all odd jobs such as ironing, assisting in a cycle shop – everything , so
that I could study. I had a choice to start earning after my school and
he would not let me do it. My most pleasant memories of my childhood is
helping my dad with the ironing. And by the way, I iron my clothes like a
Pro ( I was the school topper in X)
Four, set reasonable goals
My principal ran a small practice then and she agreed to
put me on, for my articles, to a much larger firm as she believed that I was
tenacious enough to handle the course. But I decided not to take a big
leap and opted for a small firm where I trained mostly in risk. I did
nothing on direct taxes and I don’t seem to miss it much today
Five, go with the flow
I cleared CA in 2007 with 56%, My father did not want me
to accept the campus offer for a job based at Hyderabad. While every inch
of me rebelled, some sanity urged me to stay back and find a job in Chennai and
life has been a proverbial breeze with not much of a break after my kid was
born. My parents chipped in all the time. Had it been Hyderabad, it
would have been a struggle. I learnt my life’s most valuable lesson to be
flexible and go with the flow
Six, Spouse = Best friend
Without an exception, I have realised that successful and
happy women are those who are supported by their spouses. Some get lucky
like me to marry a friend while for others, my only advice would be to really
be-friend your spouse and for this go to rule #5 as life is a big give and
take. Thanks Rajat Sahu
I can
hear Lohitaksh call out “Amma, your cab ! “ and it’s time for me to leave. I
really hope these insights do help !
