Shahdab Hussain, 23, CA final (old syllabus) topper. (Source: Facebook) Shahdab Hussain, 23, CA final (old syllabus) topper. (Source: Facebook)

Shadab Hussain, a resident of Kota, Rajasthan has emerged as the topper of the CA (old syllabus) final exam, results of which were announced today by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). Hussain has scored 597 out of 800 with a 74.63 per cent marks.

Hussain has earned B.Com degree from Kota University. His father is a tailor and has studied till class 10. His mother is a school drop-out. He is the only brother of four sisters. Despite his parents being less educated, they worked hard to give him proper schooling.

“I studied day-and-night to earn a job so that my parents do not have to bother about their old age. I thought of Chartered Accountancy (CA) to be a niche profession where one can learn throughout their life. After due consideration and research I set my mind to become a CA,” Hussain told indianexpress.com.

The 23-year-old devoted 14-13 hours each day to self-study and was expecting to be among the top scorers. “This is the biggest achievement in my family. I was expecting a good rank since I was also among top scorers in the Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) exam,” he said.

Keeping one’s mind calm during higher studies and analysing what one has studied is the key to crack the CA exam, according to Hussain. “I used to take a break of 30-40 minutes after three hours of study. I also made sure to walk two-three kilometres every day. It de-stressed me,” he said. “As the exams approached, I reduced the hours devoted to study in order to keep my mind alert,” he added.

Talking about his exam strategy, he said, “I read the entire question paper and find out three-four questions which were easy and high scoring. I kept the target of attaining 40 marks in the first hour of the exam. Thus, I spent the rest two hours increasing my score. It gave me an edge over others.”

Suggesting his peers, Hussain said, “I advise everyone to have at least half-an-hour of me-time. During this, one can think about the day spent in retrospect. It would also help one manage time better during the day and gives the sense of pride and at the same time act as a quick revision.”

He likes to play badminton and cricket in his free time and found audit to be the easiest of all the seven subjects in the CA final exam. This Kota boy has an interest in auditing but is yet to decide the course of his career.

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