Badhrinarayanan Ravi, a B.Com graduate who travels four to five hours a day from Chengalpattu, used his train time for CFA preparation. He cleared CFA Level 1 with Skilledgrad in May 2026, landed an equity research role at FPS Assets along the way, and is now in our CFA Level 2 batch.
Apparently, five hours of train travel a day was not enough for Badhri. So he added CFA Level 1, a job in equity research and CFA Level 2 classes to the schedule.
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Meet Badhrinarayanan Ravi, a B.Com graduate from Guru Nanak College, Velachery, and now our CFA Level 2 student.
A train that knows him better than we do
Living in Chengalpattu means his train probably knows him better than most of us do.
- Home to college, and back (B.Com)
- Home to Skilledgrad, and back (CFA Level 1)
- Now: home to work, to Skilledgrad, and home again (CFA Level 2)
Four to five hours of travelling every day. And what did Badhri do with those hours? CFA preparation. Because apparently, sitting in a train for hours is not tiring enough unless you add an exam to it.
CFA Level 1 and a role in equity research
He cleared CFA Level 1 with us in May 2026, and while preparing for it, he landed an opportunity in equity research with FPS Assets (First Principles Asset Services LLP).
At Skilledgrad we pushed him through practical finance, case studies and work that was not exactly designed to be comfortable. We pushed him hard. He enjoyed it. He took up the difficult stuff, kept pushing, motivated his peers and somehow found the stamina to keep doing all of it.
There are two kinds of people. “Five hours of travel? That’s difficult.” And: “Five hours? Nice. That’s five hours of CFA prep.” Badhri clearly belongs to the second category.
College. CFA Level 1. Equity research. CFA Level 2. And approximately half his life on a train. It takes a different kind of madness to keep showing up like this. It takes Badhri.
Back in the classroom, as a guide
Now, while preparing for CFA Level 2, he is back in our classrooms, not as someone listening quietly, but as someone sharing his journey, his practical insights and what the industry actually expects from students trying to enter core finance.
Keep going, mate. Level 2 is waiting.
This story was first shared by Sridharan M, Head of Academics & Placement at Skilledgrad, on LinkedIn. Read the original post.
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