An evening with Ms Petchi Kannan
On Friday, July 11, we had an engaging session by Ms Petchi Kannan.
She spoke about her humble beginnings, the various challenges she has faced, how she qualified as a chartered accountant and how she went on to set up her own practice.
About Ms Petchi Kannan
Ms Petchi Kannan completed her BCom from Madurai Kamaraj University (Mangayarkarasi College for Women, Madurai) in 2000-01. She was the first rank holder in the college. She became a Chartered Accountant in May 2007 in her first attempt. She subsequently qualified as an Insolvency Professional. From 2007 to 2013, she worked as Manager – International Taxation with Deloitte. She went on to set up her firm Petchi & Associates.
Ms Kannan is a resource person in ICAI for Direct Taxation & Professional Ethics-CPE meeting and faculty for orientation programme & MCS programme.
Ms Kannan got the First CA Women Excellence Award in Social Service from ICAI, New Delhi (All over India – first position). She received the D Rangaswamy Academy for Fiscal Research. The Society of Auditors recognized her with the “Nightingale” award. She received the Lifetime Achiever Award for Social contribution from NMCT, Coimbatore. She received the Successful chartered accountant award from Padmashri. CA.T.N. Manoharan (Past President of ICAI).
Ms Kannan has delivered motivational speeches to lakhs of students in various colleges and government schools across the Southern India. She has also taken part in live TV shows.
Ms Kannan’s success story has been published in the Book Nightingale 2.0 in February 2021. Her story has also been published on the ICAI website and in the Hindu.
Ms Kannan has secured the Best Paper presenter award in the 17th All India Conference organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of India held at Nagpur in 2004.
Ms Kannan has secured prizes in various competitions in college (Sports, Elocution, Debate, Dramas, Rangoli, Fancy dress and Dance) and in Deloitte (Fancy dress, Cubic decoration and workplace decoration).
The early days
Ms Kannan was born and brought up in Madurai. Her parents were roadside vegetable sellers. Ms Kannan was an average student in school. But thanks to the encouragement of her parents and brother, she became the topper of her college and the first graduate from her family.
Ms Kannan’s brother would often say that his education had been stopped just for her. So, she should do well in her studies. He would add that education was her best friend. Her stepmother who brought her up would often remark: “Never say education is tough. Look at how we are struggling on the roadside. Study with passion. How you view a task is important.”
Till class 3, Ms Kannan went to a government school. After that she moved to the town and was exposed to English. It was a big struggle from Class 4.
Students were expected to wear shoes, but Ms Kannan could not afford them. One day before an inspection, the class teacher informed her that without shoes, she would not be let inside the school. She went home and started crying.
Her father went to a shoemaker and got a pair of shoes made. Ms Kannan felt proud and happy as she went to school the next day wearing shoes. She was the first to wear shoes in her family. But when she reached school, her school mates started making fun of her. They were boy’s shoes and did not fit her feet properly.
Ms Kannan began to cry while returning from school. After reaching home, she threw the shoes down. Her mother told her that happiness is within us. She was quite happy in the morning. Why was she feeling bad now? It was best to ignore others. Then her father took her to a Bata store and got her a pair of girls’ shoes. The lesson for Ms Kannan was what she should not be bothered about insults. From then on, she began to take insults in a positive way.
Finishing the CA
Ms Kannan attended the 16th all India CA students’ conference in Chennai. There were thousands of students. It was her dream to present a paper at the conference. With her limited technical knowledge and lack of English proficiency, she looked unqualified for this. But Ms Kannan emphasized that when we start dreaming there is no need for qualifications. Things will fall in place automatically. Where there is a will there is a way.
She presented a paper at the 17th conference in Nagpur. Ultimately, Ms Kannan was selected as the best paper presenter. At the award function, she invited her mother to the podium. It was her mother who received the award. She was really happy.
After her graduation, Ms Kannan lost both her parents. Meanwhile she had also been forced to marry. But she was determined to finish her CA. She got the support of her teacher, legendary CA, Mr R Sivakumar. He was a great mentor and provided financial support. He played the role of her father. He wrote Nightingale 2.0 along with M Pattabhiram.
On setting up her practice
After finishing CA, Ms Kannan joined Deloitte and was doing well when she decided to set up her own practice. Her friends discouraged her saying that she was taking a step backward. But she was determined and decided to take the risk.
Setting up her practice was far more challenging than qualifying as a CA. The CA course only involved learning and preparing for the exams. The syllabus was defined. But setting up her practice involved many variables and external dependencies.
When she decided to quit Deloitte, Ms Kannan was giving up a good steady job which paid her a good, regular, monthly salary. In contrast, the practice she was planning to set up, would not pay her much. So many people demotivated her.
However, one senior Mr Sivagurunathan told her that there were great opportunities. She could succeed if she remained patient and provided a good quality of service to clients. He warned her that she should expect zero income for the first three years. Thus, her expectation was so low that any money Ms Kannan made came as a bonus. Meanwhile, her husband was a government employee. So, his steady income was enough to support both. Her husband encouraged her to pursue her passion.
Mr Sivagurunanathan also advised Ms Kannan not to take too many clients. She should work with only quality clients and keep herself free from stress. One good habit which Ms Kannan developed was to finish all assignments well ahead of the schedule.
On her husband
Ms Kannan’s husband played multiple roles in her life: father, mother, friend, mentor. He would say that she should go with the flow. Never stop running. About 2 years back, she lost her husband. She was shattered. But within 10 days of his demise, she set up a charitable trust to support 20 students with scholarships, school bags and books. Later, she came to know that her husband too had supported projects/programs for women’s education.
Concluding remarks
If we are honest, we will succeed. Success does not come by accident. We must aspire for success. Even if we are broken, we should not give up.
What we want to be we will be. All religions say that we should just be conscious of our thought process.
Ms Kannan has realized that happiness lies in giving things to others without expecting anything in return. Nothing is stronger than a person with a broken heart and smiling face.
Q&A
Ms Kannan got her inspiration from her mother. She was always willing to jump when she faced a challenge. She would overcome all obstacles. This despite never having gone outside her village and having little education. But she had a great thought process, and inculcated the same in her daughter. She would say that she should never compare herself with others. She should just be what she was. Her daughter was always special and precious to her.
Ms Kannan got her name from her grandmother. Petchi means Saraswati, the goddess of learning. Petchi Amman is a well-known goddess in the south.
Ms Kannan has a passion to learn. She never thinks she has achieved success. She never feels she has learnt enough. She always thinks she must do a lot more. She stays up to date on a daily basis with all the technical aspects of her profession. Ms Kannan also puts a lot of effort into researching and understanding all the concepts so that she can disseminate the knowledge effectively in various forums.
It has become fashionable for many of us to say we are feeling stressed. We should avoid using the word stress. It is not a good term and has negative connotations. Instead, we can use terms like unhappy, worried and sad.
Her husband’s death was sudden and came as a shock. He had never been sick even for a day. He was healthy and would exercise daily for two hours. He had not taken a single injection. After her husband’s death, Ms Kannan initially went into depression. But then she plunged into social service and began to help others. She has been coaching many CA students. They call her Amma. Ms Kannan feels good that she is like a mother to many children.
The secret is to be natural and speak from the heart. Ms Kannan does not prepare much. She connects with the young people at a personal level, by asking them to express their love towards their parents. She shares her own story and gives them exercises. They initially hesitate but then start getting emotional and even cry. She also tells them education is important.
Ms Kannan wants to spread her parents’ name even though they are not alive. She also wants to communicate to the world the sacrifices her husband made for her. This is sustaining her and helping her to move forward.
Nothing in life is difficult if we are determined. Every difficulty is an opportunity. Her childhood memories are about strength, not struggle. The CA course is not all that difficult. There are much tougher disciplines like medicine.
Ms Kannan gives priority to social impact. She concentrates on social work in the daytime. She does her professional work at night. This way she can manage both.