FROM UNTRUTH TO TRUTH

Lalit Modi narrates how despondency over non-payment of a trifling sum of twenty rupees led him to start his CA practice.

- Lalit Modi

My maiden job as an accounts assistant in a private organisation was rigorous but memorable, etched in my mind like a ‘sweet’ itch.The owner, whom I addressed reverentially as Babuji, was my classmate’s father. One day, he called me to meet him in his office. When he learnt that I was waiting for my final CA results and just lazing at home, he ordered me to join his family organisation which dealt in steel. Overawed by his presence and personality, I agreed to join the next day. He directed me to work as a subordinate of the ‘Lion,’ Guptaji, the loyal manager of the firm. Guptaji would work side by side with me,teaching me how to make complicated accounting entries, breathing over my neck while I struggled with the task, all the time waiting like a lion to pounce on me if I made a mistake. He was practical, dynamic, experienced, and down-to-earth. He was a taskmaster with an obsession for perfection.

Learning with the ‘Lion’

Honestly, I learnt a lot from him and consider him my guru. My CA training was no match for his BCom with experience. Sometimes, I had to work with him for extended hours till late in the night and beyond. The session used to begin at 9 a.m. and go on through the day and night till 3a.m., resume at 9 a.m. the same day, and go on like this for three or four days.