MP Vijay Kumar, who is also the CFO of Sify Technologies, runs a
tight ship at his classes at Prime Academy in Chennai. And his students
love him for it. Read on to get your dose of inspiration this Monday
morning.
M P Vijay KumarNear
the famous Mylapore tank, in Chennai, a place where trade, faith, and
education meld together,
thousands of young chartered accountancy (CA)
aspirants assemble at the break of dawn, armed with a notebook and pen.
They gather everyday to listen in rapt attention to their teacher,
MP Vijay Kumar.
Be it the merciless summer heat, or rain pouring down in sheets, the
weather never stopped these students, who rarely missed his class. And
the same goes for Vijay Kumar’s dedication as well.
Says
Nandith YK, a CA and a former student of Vijay’s,
“One
day, it was raining cats and dogs in Chennai. We had to wade through
water on the streets. Even then, he showed up on time and started the
class. He is one person who would turn up no matter what. He taught me
the lesson of showing up irrespective of the circumstances. Later, when I
joined Sify, I witnessed the late nights he puts in at his workplace
too.”
Vijay Kumar, 49, dons many hats with aplomb. He perfectly balances his role as
Chief Financial Officer at Sify Technologies,
and his responsibilities as a Council Member of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India, and Member of SEBI Committee on
Disclosures in Accounting with his tireless passion for teaching.
With a batch of students at Prime AcademyVijay
believes that CA has changed his life, and with an aim of giving back
to the profession, and helping the youth pursue dreams similar to his,
he decided to tutor them in Accounting and Finance Law.
Accounts, finance, and some life lessons
While
the students sign up for CA tutoring, they get so much more at Vijay
Kumar’s classes, which are peppered with advice that will make a student
not just adept at finance, but at life too.
Walk into his class, and you may catch some interests nuggets of wisdom:
‘The pen should not stop!’
‘Don’t peep into your neighbour’s book. Have that little ego that I am better.’
‘Put your calculators down! Imagine this is an interview question, Rs 10 lakh starting salary. Now answer.’
It
is indeed this passion to help batches of CA hopefuls that has fuelled
Vijay Kumar’s 21-year teaching career, and helped him shape 75,000 young
minds (and counting) along the way.
Vijay with few of his studentsVijay
Kumar lives by the rule that one needs to set an example by the way one
lives. A typical day for him starts as early as four in the morning.
Post a morning walk and some exercise, he gets ready and reaches Prime
Academy at 5.45 am, and then makes into his office by 9 am.
“I
believe students come to not only learn and spend time on the subject.
Their learning is more effective from our conduct rather than what we
say,” Vijay tells YourStory.
Making the only option work, and how
Born
in Pattukottai in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, Vijay Kumar was
veering towards science. However, when he failed to secure an
engineering seat at a government college, he took up BCom instead at
Visakhapatnam. Thereafter, he studied and applied for CA “as there were
not many options back then.”
In 1992, he cleared his exams and
began his career with Sundaram Finance. Two years later, he started
teaching CA to students, out of the drive to hone young minds, while he
was working as Head Investment Banker at Sundaram Finance Service
Limited.
“I enjoyed making things simpler, not just with
teaching, but even in my professional life. Upon advice of my friends, I
started teaching because I enjoyed explaining things to people,” Vijay
Kumar says.
Playing to his strengths
Such
was his love for teaching that Vijay Kumar quit his job at Sundaram in
1999 and became a practising CA. He had also joined Chennai’s Prime
Academy where he taught a cohort of 800-1,000 students split into
multiple batches every morning.
“The ability to make a
difference and help students pursue their dreams motivated me to
dedicate more time to teaching. Most of the students who were pursuing
the course came from difficult financial backgrounds. And when you are
able to help them in their goal of becoming a CA, it makes a difference
to their life, their family, and the next generation,” he says.
At the Prime AcademyWhile
CA has been traditionally studied by a student on her own, it is a very
challenging ordeal. “CA studies is actually meant to be a self-study
programme and not meant to be taught in classrooms. However, the huge
volume of topics involved and lack of guidance overall are the biggest
hurdles to clearing a CA exam,” Vijay Kumar explains.
Each year,
over one lakh students appear for CA final examinations and 1.5 lakh students appear for the intermediate rounds. Despite the high volume of students
only 20 percent of the candidates clear them.
The hard work and focus required to clear this examination is well
known. And Vijay’s classes, over the years, has become a go-to place for
students from not just Chennai, but from across the country, and even
Nepal.
Many put in lot of efforts to turn up every morning
without fail. A student from Arakkonam, a town 70 km from Chennai, would
reach her station by cycle, take a train at 4 am, reach Chennai, and
then hop onto a bus to make it just in time for her classes at Prime
Academy.
“Their passion to study and pursue the dream
keeps me motivated and inspired. I would help them in every way
possible— be it helping students from difficult financial backgrounds or
students who come from non-English-medium background at school,” Vijay
Kumar adds.
Vijay spends time with his students even outside the classroom
No blackboard and textbooks in this classroom
A huge draw to his classes is the fact that
Vijay Kumar crafts his lesson plans not based on textbooks, but on his work experience and real case studies.
Vijay
explains that Chartered Accountancy studies is “all about practical
application of knowledge.” In fact, Vijay has never used a blackboard to
teach. He believes that one should complete the whole syllabus with a
focus on learning for career and less on examination approach.
“I
ensured I was not a full-time teacher and teaching was never my primary
career. This is because I wished to focus on getting good hands-on work
experience, which I could share with students while they prepared for
CA,” he adds.
For his contribution to the institution and work in the field of CA, Vijay has been awarded with the
Capital Foundation National Award
by former President Pranab Mukherjee. In 2015, he was also recognised
by the Certified Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) as one of
the
‘100 Most Influential CFOs of India.’ Laurels that are well-earned, indeed.