Pune's tea-vendor CA becomes Maharashtra brand ambassador

Pune (Maharashtra), Jan 25  A humble tea-vendor from Pune Somnath Giram, who has cleared this year's Chartered Accountancy examination, has been named as the 'brand ambassador' for Maharashtra's "Earn & Learn Scheme".

Education Minister Vinod Tawde made the announcement here on Sunday at a function while a prominent Pune realtor, DSK Group's CMD offered Giram a job to audit his company's account books.

Hailing from a small village in Karmala in Solapur district, the 28-year-old Giram, born to a marginal farmer, has come a long way after cycling 40 km daily to attend school.

Owing to a poor financial background, Giram considered dropping out of school after the State Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) of Class 10 like his elder brother and sister, as he could ill-afford to buy textbooks and notebooks.

Undetterred, he took up manual labour jobs in fields and collected money to continue his studies and pay for his fees as well as books and other study material to complete higher secondary in his hometown.

Noticing his skills with financial figures, a sympathetic teacher advised him to go to Pune and pursue his B.Com. which he completed in 2009, followed by his M.Com. in 2012.

Simultaneously, he started studying for his CA course, but was bogged down by the heavy fees and expensive books, coaching class fees and other expenses.

Not losing hope, he set up a small teashop in Pune's Sadashiv Peth's Perugate Square in 2013, which soon grew in popularity and he had a roaring business which helped finance his CA studies.

After managing the teashop for nearly 12 hours, he would put in 5-7 more hours for studies, often working late into the night.

His efforts and dedication finally paid off and he cleared this year's CA exams with 55 percent marks, coming among the only around eight percent of the total candidates declared successful.

"I was inspired by the humble beginnings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I resolved not to get disheartened by an obstacles in life," Giram told media persons.

Though he has not planned to shut down his teashop, he hopes to launch his own CA firm and serve the country in some capacity in future.

Impressed by Giram's struggles and success, minister Tawde named him the new brand ambassador for the state-sponsored 'Earn & Learn Scheme' to inspire lakhs of other struggling youths like him.