Story of a 100% CA Family

As any other middle-aged woman in her fifties, I’m a wife, mother of grown-up children, and homemaker. But I’m also a career woman. After years of dormancy, I’ve rediscovered myself as a working professional. I’ve been allowed to share my story. And I take great pleasure in sharing my professional journey, which started in my 30s!

My father was in finance and accounting services and he always wanted to be a Chartered Accountant but due to family responsibilities could not spare time for studies. To fulfil his dream, he found a chartered accountant husband for me. Before getting married, I was an ambitious girl who wanted to build a career in academics but being a CA was never in my thought!

I was a quiet and self-effacing housewife, got married at a quite young age. My husband had a joint family. Having any personal goal was out of the question that gave me an uneasy restlessness.

I believe that a true calling in our life is that we want to pursue with the same enthusiasm without getting worn out. For me, it was studying! So, I decided to pursue my education even after getting married and since my Husband was a Chartered Accountant I thought to pursue CA Course. I must say that my parents and my in-laws supported me a lot and they always stood by my side. My husband encouraged me to perform well and actively participated in solving my education-related problems.

Meanwhile, I became a mother and I too gave up on the idea of studying. My days were spent taking care of my children, their studies, and the rest of the household chores. However, I continued learning and reading. Computers were also introduced by that time and I attended Computer classes. My husband bought me the first version of Personal Workstation Computers way back in the year 1995. I started helping my husband in making Financial and Audit Reports, at that time working from home. This way, 10 years went by! I aspired to do something great in my career, however, in reality, I wasn’t doing anything even close to what I dreamt of.

Something unexpected happened after a long time. One day, My Husband’s Mentor and now mine, came to our house. He asked me if I loved working, to which I replied in affirmative. I wasn’t expecting what he said next; he asked me why was I wasting my time.

In the ensuing conversation. I was highly motivated to pursue my CA Course and started going to an office for 4 to 5 hours daily when my children were in school. I must admit that studying after a gap of so many years wasn’t easy and commerce did not come naturally as I graduated in home science, but I stood my ground, and eventually, my perseverance paid off.

Now, I’m known as CA Anjali Jain! Yes, this is what I had always dreamt of – to have an identity of my own. Now that I’ve gained that identity and found a new meaning in my life, I look forward to going a long way and learning many more things.

To all the women, especially housewives, I would just like to say – “Don’t look at your age as a barrier. You are never too old to follow your dreams and start a career. Even if one woman gets encouraged to start/restart her career after reading my story, the purpose of sharing my journey would be fulfilled. For me, success in life is the one when you can contribute to society. I took up a CA course when the Indian society was not very approving of married women pursuing a career of their own and today I feel proud to say that my family is a 100% CA Family. My children took up Chartered Accountancy as a profession and my daughter-in-law is a chartered Accountant as well and they have all been chartered accountants in their first attempts. I feel satisfied when people tell me that I have been a role model to them.