Question 1: Can you please briefly introduce yourself?
Answer: Hey everyone, I'm Abhishek Bansal, currently pursuing B.Com Honors at Hansraj College, University of Delhi. Originally from Narnaul, Haryana, I never wanted to be a filmmaker. It's just that I enjoy videography so to add humour a bit, I mention that to people. While I'm still on that journey, I've found my directorial flair in my society's leadership roles. I also co founded Post Midnight Brew, a media production company where we whip up podcasts and sketch comedies. Alongside, I've always loved playing with numbers and I have tried my hands into finance and consulting through internships.
Question 2: You have cleared both CA intermediate and CA foundation exams, so, how did you strike a balance between your academics and extracurriculars?
Answer: So, when I cracked the CA Foundation exam in December '21, it coincided with the start of college, which was online at the time. Given that a significant portion of the Foundation syllabus was based on 11th and 12th standards, managing both wasn't challenging. However, when I started with my preparations for the CA Intermediate, balancing offline college with intermediate classes became difficult. Initially, my seniors advised me to attempt both groups within 9 months, but I opted for a single group, completing 6 subjects by July. By November '23, I appeared for 4 exams, achieving exemptions in 3. After a brief break, I focused on college studies, resuming exam preparation for November '23, alongside various extracurriculars like sports and media production responsibilities. Later, I sat for the exam again and managed to crack it successfully. Though challenging, this multitasking approach has yielded satisfactory results.
Question 3: Was there a moment in your CA journey when you felt overwhelmed and doubted your abilities?
Answer: When juggling multiple commitments, I eventually started to have second thoughts about my life. I questioned whether I was investing my time in the right pursuits. The fear of not being able to succeed despite my efforts scared me sometimes. But in spite of all of this uncertainty, I was determined not to give up. Throughout my journey, my friends served as unwavering pillars of support, constantly encouraging me to keep going. Additionally, the support my family provided gave me a sense of security. Unlike many, I was fortunate to not feel pressured by familial expectations. So with a structured approach, I set specific targets,planned how to allocate my time and efforts. This disciplined approach enabled me to navigate through challenges and maintain a sense of direction.
Question 4: In the next five years, where do you see yourself?
Answer: Moving forward, I'm actively seeking internship opportunities to gain exposure in areas such as auditing, taxation, which are commonly offered by both big fours and midsize firms. Following two to three years internship, I intend to transition into a role within a firm to further hone my skills in managing diverse responsibilities like audit and taxation.
Question 5: Being a non-native of Delhi, your initial months of college might have presented some initial challenges. How did you overcome those hurdles and manage to adapt to the new environment while balancing your various commitments?
Answer: Before coming to Delhi, I have never experienced living alone. Of course, this transition was difficult. I was accustomed to a privileged lifestyle where I never had to even bring a glass of water but here I had no choice but to manage everything on my own. I firmly believe that as part of life's journey, one must overcome challenges with determination. Despite my initial struggles, I've always been adaptable and capable of managing responsibilities effectively. In some instances, I outsourced tasks like laundry and dishwashing to manage my routine. Overall, adeptness helped me to get accustomed to this lifestyle.
Question 6: When did you develop your passion towards writing poems?
Answer: I never imagined myself as a writer until one day, while watching a romance film on Netflix, "Purple Hearts," I felt overwhelmed with emotions and decided to pen them down. It started as a hobby but later my friends started to appreciate my poetries. Encouraged by them, I started posting my poetries on social media and eventually started my own poetry page. The positive feedback I received was incredibly motivating. Discovering my passion for writing was very unexpected yet it has been very fruitful.
Question 7: How do you feel about having a venture? Moreover, how did you manage everything with your studies and extracurricular?
Answer: Mani, a friend I met during an internship, approached me with the idea of starting a production venture, which eventually became our joint venture. As it was completely new for both of us, we were sceptical about the success of this venture. We began by focusing on audio series, aiming to publish them on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We planned to launch five episodes in one season but only managed to produce three due to various challenges. We faced internal conflicts, with one of our co-founders, who was initially brought on board for technical support. Despite the setbacks, we're determined to learn from our experiences and continue improving our venture.
Question 8: As you know we all are about to graduate, what are the moments you want to relive and delete if you get a chance to do so from the entire three year journey of your college life?
Answer:my whole college life has been tremendous, like I want to relive every moment of it. I joined SPARC in my second year.the friendship I developed with people in spark is so pure, they have been there since the very beginning.I yearn to revisit the enchanting chapter of my life, filled with the vibrant energy of joining SPARC,wandering the bustling streets, going to parties and embracing every moment.In my initial year,I stood apart from any social circles.As the first year drew to an end, I realised that without friends and network,one’s existence feels incomplete.Eventually spark happened, I made friends, made connections and things went in a blow.
Question 9:Going through the competitions you participated in, sustainability summit is one thing that stood out to me as its different from finance and consultancy. Could you explain how the sustainability summit went?
Answer: Like all other societies prelims happen on the unstop only. My junior and I participated in the competition and we managed to clear the prelims.Later we were invited on the campus and a couple of delegates were sitting there from several countries. Our assignment was Russia, focusing on the critical topic of global warming. In a competitive debate setting, we presented our perspectives on preventing climate change, bolstered by the support of Russian delegates in attendance. The event encompassed a quiz-style round, with winners determined through a series of three to four rounds.
Question 10:How would you describe Abhishek in just one jingle without telling your name?
Answer: I would like to associate myself with resilience because I don't give up over things easily. I am a people’s person. People matter to me more than my things.
Question 11: You have interest in investment and stocks. How did you come across the stocks part as CA is little different from stocks .
Answer: Investment is a sort of thing in my family .I started investing when I was in my first year. I didn't have much idea back then. I am trading through a demat account. I recommend not solely delving into a company's performance before investing, instead, first, grasp the nature of the business itself.If a company's business is good, the company will eventually grow.
Question 12: Coming to your venture part, are you guys planning to make money out of it or it will be just for your passion purpose?
Answer: when we had started back then, we decided not to commercialise it. Money was the secondary part. Our podcast thing has been done, now we are planning for a comedy sketch. Once we are done with this, we'll definitely look for sponsorships.
Question 13: Any advice you would like to give out to your juniors on how to go ahead with the rollercoaster ride of college life?
Answer: My advice would be to never leave the side of a person who has seen you loose. That person will stick to you through thick and thin.
Question 14: What is one thing in you that you think attracts others towards you?
Answer: Your ability to articulate thoughts in your own words and present explanations in a well-organised manner is a measure of your proficiency.
Question 15: when you were doing too good in your school life, how did you think of your particular CA moment?
Answer: In my school life, mathematics and taxation always captivated me. Initially, I envisioned a career in the mathematical realm, particularly actuarial science. However, circumstances led me down a different path. Given my family's strong association with chartered accountancy (CA), perhaps the mindset influenced my decision, and eventually, I chose CA as my career.
Question 16: You have interned at a lot of places. So was it difficult for you to explore profiles like sales, marketing, finance operations while doing CA. Why did you think you had to go for these fields when your main motive was CA?
Answer:I did an internship in finance and sales in my first year itself. I did a summer internship when I took a break from CA. My last internship was in audit and taxation which I did just to get the grasp of how things work. So it didn’t create any hindrance to my original goal.
HIGHLIGHTS-
●Found Post Midnight Brew, a media production company which sketches comedies and podcasts.
●Cleared CA intermediate and CA foundation while managing college activities.
●Having a passion for filmmaking and directing, Abhishek lived his dream in his society’s leadership roles.
●Actively participated in the sustainability summit along with other competitions.
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