Try out new things. Deliberately seek out people who have a view opposing yours, build cognitive diversity. Be a generalist, in a world full of specialists.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
I come from a typical middle-class business family, settled in Kolkata. I am a Chartered Accountant by profession, and a social entrepreneur by passion. Over my 5 years of corporate journey, I focussed on learning about as many industries and companies as possible.
My work gave me an opportunity to talk to some of the most brilliant minds in India Inc, as well as interact and engage with people at the grass-root level. From the remotest villages in Odisha, to the best business parks and hotels of Mumbai - I have seen it all.
2. What led you to pursue CA as your Career?
Even as a kid, I loved business-talks. All the kids around me wanted to be pilots, doctors or engineers. I either wanted to be an Astronaut, or a Business-person. After 12th, I was as clueless as any 17-18 year old kid reading this would be. While exploring my options, I came across some YouTube videos on Warren Buffett.
I realised I had a keen interest in learning about stock markets. As I dug deeper and deeper, I realised, I couldn't understand the financial statements (esp accounting policies) really well.
I also Googled who the top investors in India were, and what degree they held, and I found that most of them were CAs. I think that's how I decided that I wanted to pursue this as a profession.
3. What are your strengths?
I don't think in terms of strengths or weaknesses. It's highly relative. Although, I am a really curious person, and disciplined enough to see my curiosity through. I believe extraordinary results come from doing ordinary things consistently.
4. How can one keep themselves motivated throughout the process?
That's a really good question. There's this quote by Nietzsche, a German philosopher, who says, "If you have a 'why', you can bear almost any 'how'." Also, any CA aspirant preparing for exams from home would know this - our Moms sacrifice so much to get us where we are. I used to not know what time of the day it is, untill my Mom brought me breakfast, lunchor dinner.
I think knowing how much hopes she had on me kept me going. I did not want to see her go through the whole cycle of me preparing, and she taking care of me again. Having this in my head made me work with discipline and give it my best shot.
5. What does your typical day look like?
My day starts with reading business newspapers, articles, etc. Then, at exactly 11:15am, Yavantika (my co-founder) calls me up to discuss the day's affairs. Post that, it's pretty random - more of fire-fighting, and enabling conversations with readers, team members, external partners, etc.
I also love mentoring young CA students, and devote 2 hours every day to that. While doing all this, you can find me reading a book or two. Always.
6. What is Your biggest Professional Achievement?
This is an emotional one. There was this girl (first year trainee) who was working on an outstation client. This was probably her first outstation assignment for such a prolonged period (40 days). Everyone on that team was homesick. I joined the team in-between, after 10-12 days or so, and noted that she used to sit very quietly and do her work.
I talked to her, and realised that she was struggling. She had been a great student at school, 97-98%+ and all, but was very low on confidence. Over the next 30 days, I closely worked with her, and made sure she completed an assignment independently.
At the end of the assignment, she presented it to the project lead (Director) directly, and was appreciated by all. After that, her confidence went only one way - up. I think, helping her get out of that self-doubt mode has been one of my greatest personal achievements.
7. What are your future plans and what impact do you want to create?
The long term vision is to increase the penetration of financial literacy in the country. Today, 73% of our total population is financially illiterate.
Focussing on reducing this number substantially over the next 7-10 years. For me, personally, the biggest challenge is to become irrelevant at ReadOn: make it into a self-sufficient, financially sustainable organisation, that's led by its members.
8. What piece of advice would you like to share to the aspiring CA candidates?
Don't fall into the pit of chasing tags, titles, and money. Maximise learnings, optimise earnings. You will need to earn a fair bit to be able to support your family and loved ones, but don't just do things for the sake of maximising income. Also, focus on building skills.
Try out new things. Deliberately seek out people who have a view opposing yours, build cognitive diversity. Be a generalist, in a world full of specialists.
9. Which is your favorite book and why?
I love reading, so it's difficult to choose a favourite. But if I had to recommend something to young CA aspirants, it would be "The Art of Thinking Clearly" and "Sapiens." TATC is about some cognitive biases all humans have - and helps one appreciate the need to be cognitively diverse and aware.
Sapiens, because it will help you understand how the human race has evolved, what drives us at the core of our being, and will open your mind to a lot of new ideas and possibilities.
An avid reader, a passionate writer and a social entrepreneur, Shantanu's LinkedIn bio reads "passionately curious." He is a Chartered Accountant with an All India Rank 10, and has worked with Grant Thornton and Swiggy before starting his own startup - ReadOn. Financial literacy and women empowerment are two causes he's deeply passionate about. He also loves mentoring students and soon-to-be-entrepreneurs.
- Interviewed By Paramjeet
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