Notwithstanding the fact that he was under 21 years of age and hence would not be eligible for the mandatory enrolment at the Institute of Chartered Accountants for permission to practice, he cracked the 2012 CA exams and created a record by becoming one among the only few youngest Chartered Accountants of the country.

Ghalib Anjum Mirza, who belongs to a humble family of Kalwan – a small town some 100kms to Nashik, was only 20 years and six months old in May 2012 when he appeared for the CA final exams. When the results were declared two months later in July, he not only cleared the exams in his first attempt but also secured the 2nd rank in the Nashik district.

“The success run of Ghalib has really made us all proud. There are perhaps only couple of people in the country who had cracked the CA final exams at this age”, his father Anjum Mirza said on the sidelines of a function organised in Satana on September 05 to felicitate his son Ghalib.

Crediting his success to his family and hard work, Ghalib – a student of Nashik’s KTHM College, recalled how tirelessly he worked while preparing for the course.

“Besides the support I received from my parents and uncles, it was the sheer hard work and tactical study that helped me achieve my target”, he said.

In reply to a question, he allayed the fears of CA aspirants and advised them to concentrate on article-ship and not to study under “imaginary” pressure.

“Against the popular advice, I used to discuss my seniors - especially those who had failed in the exams, to enquire about the difficulties they faced and the reasons why they failed. It made me acquainted to the difficult situations in advance”, he said.

Interestingly the young Chartered Accountant, who has simultaneously completed B.Com and currently doing LLB, is not satisfied with what he has already achieved, and is eying for even bigger.

“Audit is my favourite subject and I am now planning to appear for the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) entrance exams”, he said.

The Journey to Success

SSC: March 2006 
HSC: Feb 2008
Common Proficiency Test (CPT): Dec 2008
Article-ship: Jan 2009 – July 2012
CA Entrance: Nov 2010
CA Final – May 2012

(Times of India)