Akhil Manuel juggles a full-time career in auditing with a passion for travel, writing fiction, and photography. As a Chartered Accountant, he has worked extensively amongst the best, including E&Y, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs. He always moves forward to provide value within the Chartered Accountant community and has taken his talent to Muscat, where he currently works in Al Arqam Financial Services and Management Consultancy as a Principal Business Analyst. He has recently come out with his first novel, Articleship Diaries.

I chat with Akhil about his book Articleship Diaries, what inspired him to write this novel, book recommendations, and much more.

Hello, Akhil! Tell us a bit about yourself!

Hey, I am feeling so excited as it’s the first interview that I have ever had. I know I must go a long way ahead to call myself an acclaimed author. But these days, I am just happy and proud to tell everyone that my book has got published.

Hi, I am Akhil. I am from God's own country, Kerala. I started writing when I was 12 years old, and within a year, a short story of mine got published in my school magazine. I still remember how thrilled I was when I saw my printed name on a book.

I always love to portray, without a filter, the real-life that I observe, and get into the characters’ minds that I write about. I pursued my CA from Kochi. Soon after, I moved to Bangalore, where I completed my PG from Christ University. I have traveled extensively throughout India and play basketball whenever I get time.

Articleship Diaries, my first novel, was published on CA Day, 1st July 2021. I am currently working on my second book, which is a memoir about my college days.

If you could only describe your book Articleship Diaries in one sentence, what would it be?

A riveting tale of a chartered accountant discovering his true purpose in life! 

Now tell us a little more about the book! What can readers expect?

The book is based on the life of a Chartered Accountant (CA) student. But that doesn't mean this book would be enjoyable only for people related to the field of chartered accountancy. The novel has a universal theme; the story starts when the protagonist decides to pursue CA and ends when he qualifies as a CA. The protagonist, in the novel’s narrative, describes his pains and pleasures while pursuing the CA course – a journey of more than three years.

The protagonist of the novel is Joseph, more commonly known as ‘Joe’. He’s a dreamer who lacks responsibility. His parents mostly took all decisions for him, and as usual, after higher secondary school, moral coercion made him take the Chartered Accountancy course. As a part of the CA course, he has to do his internship in an office for three years, commonly known as Articleship.

In this three-year-long journey, Joe finds himself navigating romance, the corporate world, true friendship, and drama, while traveling around the world. In a breathless race, he realizes what it means to become an impactful chartered accountant and, above all, the true meaning of finding one’s purpose.

What inspired you to write this novel?

I have noticed that countless movies have been made and many books have been written about the lives of students in engineering and medical colleges. It seems like they are the only category of people who enjoy their youthful days. But is that true? Does it mean that CA students don’t have fun? Does it mean you need an IQ of 170 and an incredible work ethic to become a CA?

The CA student experience also has a lot of dramatic events, with CA students also experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. It is way more eventful than a regular college. It starts from the day when you join an office, and there is work pressure attached with audits, the stress of filing an income tax return on the due date, instances where client dealings can go wrong, exam tension, etc. There comes a time when you start wondering when this all will end. And CA students do get a lot of experience and exposure, which makes them top class in their field. So, when I randomly checked online to find out about such similar experiences, I found out that there are very few novels based on a Chartered Accountant’s life. The quantum of enjoyment that you encounter while studying for becoming a CA has not been mentioned often. Well, does that mean that the life of a CA is that boring? I don't think so. Another thing is that most of the students take this course without knowing what to expect from it. So, through this book, I just want to convey to them what really happens in a CA’s life and that if the time of Articleship is appropriately used, they can create their own happy world.

Please describe your novel’s protagonist Joe to readers who might not yet be familiar with who he is and what he is dealing with?

Joe is an average person that we normally see around. He took the CA course due to his parent's wishes, but he always positively approached the CA course intending to learn new things. Joe teaches us that it’s fine if things in life do not go as per our planning, but it is how we take the things in life as they come is what matters a lot. It’s all about our choices. Joe has the option of cursing his decision and simply wasting his time without doing anything. He could have hated his life and become a rebel. Instead, he worked very hard and explored a lot in his life, resulting in overall personal and professional development.

The novel progresses through Joe’s journey of finding himself while also finding the true meaning of friendship and love. I feel that Joe is more than a story and a character; his is a lifestyle that can be adopted by CA students.

What is the message that you want readers to take away from this book?

CA is a challenging course, but this course can do wonders in the life of people pursuing it if they take it with the right attitude. Articleship is all about learning new things and making friends, equipping one to be a better person both professionally and personally. Even if we are stuck with hectic audits, office politics, and bossy people, I want to tell that those pursuing CA should find time to enjoy these days. For all readers, I would like to say that you should have trips with your friends, explore new things, improve your soft skills, live your life to the fullest, and above all, have fun because the only thing that lasts is your memories. So, make memories and live your life to the fullest.

How have you been coping with the current pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?

I wrote the first draft of this novel in 2014. The plot was framed, the structure was constructed, and the characters were fixed at that time itself. However, somehow for the next 6 years, I didn’t touch my manuscript. I don’t know what happened, but somehow one way or another, I became busy. After becoming a CA, I was thrown into the corporate world and was stuck in it. My heart wanted to complete the rest of my book, but it never worked out. And then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Like millions of people, I was also stuck inside my room. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I decided to give my novel a try. It was difficult initially, but I had plenty of time. Slowly, I increased the pace of my writing, and I began to enjoy the whole process of revisiting my characters. Moreover, I began to spend time with my family and friends on the phone. So, all this created a good ambience, and gradually I was hooked into writing mode.

This pandemic showed us the need to slow down, to stand still, and eventually reach a balance in our lives. It has also given us time to ponder upon, reflect on and start appreciating what really matters in life. We always think of life as a rat race. Always in a competitive mode, we push ourselves a lot more so as to finish the race in the first place. The Covid-19 pandemic has conveyed to us the true meaning of life; to cherish each and every moment, however small that is. So I began to take a pause, observe and do things calmly.

The post Covid-19 world will most probably follow what HW Longfellow said in ‘A Psalm of Life’:

“Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,— act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!”

What are you reading currently? Do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

At the moment, I am reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight. Both the reads are sweet and inspirational.

I would highly recommend the readers to read the titles of these authors – Khushwant Singh, Ruskin Bond, Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Benyamin, and Sidney Sheldon.

The book ‘Articleship Diaries’ is available online and at your nearest bookstore.