It was September 2023, and Hooria Batool was busy in her daily routine such as work, home, and other chores when she started getting messages from her relatives sharing news about the youngest female Chartered Accountant from India and inquiring how old Batool was when she completed her CA degree.
The question compelled her to read the news story about the Indian girl. Batool realised that she was in fact younger when she got her CA degree.
The idea of being the youngest was nowhere in her mind until that day. “I knew I was young when I did CA but being in the Guinness Book of World Records was something that never crossed my mind. It was when the news of Nandini Agarwal from India came that my family encouraged me to apply and claim this title,” she said. “Before that, I didn't even know there was something like a ‘youngest CA’ title,” she said.
Batool emailed the Guinness Book of World Records along with her awards and certificates. After a few months of back-and-forth for the purpose of verification, in January this year, she was given the title of being the youngest female CA instead. “They gave me the title because I completed my CA when I was 19 years old,” said Batool, now 27 and working as a business analyst at Nestle Pakistan.
The eldest among three sisters, Batool left her school The Educator after completing her seventh standard and joined an academy offering coaching for O levels subjects. Her late father, an O level mathematics teacher, heeded the suggestions from his colleagues and allowed Batool to sit for her O levels privately. “I appeared for fast-track O levels and gave four subjects in November 2009 and another six subjects in June 2010. I cleared all, completing my O levels at 13 years of age. Similarly, I appeared for fast-track A levels, and by the age of 14, I completed my A levels as well,” Batool said, adding that she sat for A levels exams in June 2011.
As soon as Batool completed her A levels, her father encouraged her to enrol in a degree program. With his help, Batool then started her CA and appeared for the first module of CA in March 2012. In four years, she completed her modules by June 2016. “It feels like a dream when I now recall those days. It seems impossible what I managed back then. However, it was a few years of hard work and then just a normal life with work and everything going on,” she said. With her CA degree in hand, she started her career with Haleeb Foods right away. Two years ago, she joined Nestle Pakistan.
The journey wasn’t as easy as she makes it sound. The pressure and burden that a young person of 13-14 years of age goes through to make their mark should not be undermined. Batool was not just passionate about studies but also carried the burden of performing well. “It was not easy at all, because I had no social life, no friends nothing but just my books, me, and my challenges” she said. As a 13-year-old with so much happening around her, she was only focused on her studies. “Even when I was doing CA, I was just a teenager who also wanted to mingle use a mobile phone or have birthday parties. What I was doing was a lot of work for a child,” she added.
“During CA, everyone was way older than me so I never fit in with any crowd,” she shared. The pressure of performing well in exams was gave her sleepless nights. Her family, her friends, her father’s friends, all had their eyes on her to see if she could make it through. “When I passed my O levels, it was a huge relief because coming directly from seventh standard with normal maths and subjects diving into advanced maths, statistics, and other complicated subjects, it was too much to take,” she said and shared how she used to delve into books and took help from her father during her studies.
For a good two years, Batool had no access to people her age who were living a normal life by going to parties, hanging out and enjoying their lives. “Today I don’t regret anything at all because I know that the path I chose was my journey and since CA I have been living a normal routine life with friends, work, family, outings, and everything,” she explained.
Batool’s father was there for her all the way and believed in her abilities. He pushed her to pursue subjects she liked and helped her at every step when she was afraid, for example when she was appearing for CA. “I doubted myself and was afraid when I appeared for the first module but my father told me that he knew I could do this. There were several times I used to call him when he was in the UK for his MBA and cry because I feared that I would fail but he would say I know you can pass with flying colours. He knew my potential and that is why I succeeded,” she said. Once she even considered dropping out of some subjects. However, she then cleared them all in one go.
The reason behind her father’s confidence in her was mainly because he saw her curiosity for books and learning. “When I was given books of business studies, statistics, and ad maths for the first time I started exploring them, and out of curiosity I built interest in them. I wanted always to learn something new every day and that made me go a long way,” the youngest CA shared.
Not much content was available on YouTube and other platforms when Batool started studying privately. Nevertheless, she used the internet and would listen to lectures online. “There used to be Khan Academy lectures online and a few Indian teachers too but it was not how it is today. I had to put in so much effort and time into finding good lectures and websites to study,” she shared.
Batool recently married a Chartered Accountant. She does not want to get into any degree program as she feels now is the time to enjoy her life. However, she keeps herself busy with up-to-date certifications, courses, fellowships, and workshops. “I have compromised a lot of things so I am just enjoying my time now with work and small gigs,” she said. Her two sisters have also followed in her footsteps, having done O and A levels and completed their CA degrees.