top of page

By:

Asha Tripathi

14 April 2025 at 1:35:28 pm

Stop Comparing, Start Growing

Success does not grow in comparison; it grows in focus. Over the years, women have made significant strides in every sphere of life. From managing homes to leading organisations, from nurturing families to building successful careers, women have proved that strength and resilience are deeply rooted in their nature. Financial independence has become a significant milestone for many women today, bringing with it confidence, dignity, and the freedom to shape one’s own destiny. However, along...

Stop Comparing, Start Growing

Success does not grow in comparison; it grows in focus. Over the years, women have made significant strides in every sphere of life. From managing homes to leading organisations, from nurturing families to building successful careers, women have proved that strength and resilience are deeply rooted in their nature. Financial independence has become a significant milestone for many women today, bringing with it confidence, dignity, and the freedom to shape one’s own destiny. However, along with growth has come another silent challenge — the tendency to constantly observe, compare, and sometimes even compete with the journeys of others. But a crucial question arises: Is it necessary to track the growth of others in order to grow ourselves? From my personal experience of more than two decades as an entrepreneur, I have realised something very powerful — true growth begins the moment we stop looking sideways and start looking within. A Small Beginning I had a flourishing career of teaching abroad, but when I restarted my career after moving back to India, my beginning was extremely small. My very first assignment was a simple home tuition for a single student, and the amount I earned was meagre. There was nothing glamorous about it. No recognition, no large batches, no big earnings. Just one student and one opportunity. But instead of worrying about how others were doing, how many students they had, or how much they were earning, I made a conscious decision—my only focus would be on improving myself. I focused on teaching better, preparing better, and becoming more disciplined and consistent. And slowly, without even realising it, things began to grow. One student became two, two became a small group, and gradually, over the years, the work expanded beyond what I had initially imagined. Looking back today, I can confidently say that the growth did not happen because I competed with others. It happened because I competed with myself yesterday. Comparison Creates Noise When we keep watching others' journeys too closely, we unknowingly divert our own energy. Comparison creates unnecessary noise in our minds. It brings doubts, insecurities, and sometimes even negativity. Instead of walking our own path with clarity, we start questioning our speed, our direction, and our worth. True success grows through focus, not comparison. Every woman has her own story, her own pace, and her own struggles that others may never see. The path of one person can never be identical to another's. So comparing journeys is like comparing two different rivers flowing towards the same ocean — each with its own route, its own curves, and its own rhythm. As women, we already carry many responsibilities. We balance emotions, relationships, work, and society's expectations. In such a life, the last thing we need is the burden of comparison with one another. Instead, what we truly need is support for each other. When women encourage women, something extraordinary happens. Confidence grows. Opportunities multiply. Strength becomes collective rather than individual. There is enough space in the world for every woman to create her own identity. Each of us can build our own niche without stepping on someone else's path. Choose Encouragement Envy weakens us, but encouragement empowers us. Rather than questioning how someone else is progressing, we can ask a more meaningful question: "How can I grow a little better than I was yesterday?" Lift As You Rise Today, after twenty years of experience, the most valuable lesson I have learned is simple yet profound — focus on your own work with honesty and dedication, and success will quietly follow you. We, women, are capable, resilient, and creative. We do not need to pull each other down or compete in unhealthy ways. Instead, we can lift each other up while building our own dreams. Because when one woman rises, she does not rise alone. She inspires many others to believe that they can rise, too. And perhaps that is the most beautiful form of success. (The writer is a tutor based in Thane. Views personal.)

Ayodhya’s new emblem of power and memory

The hoisting of the saffron standard atop the Ram temple marks not only a religious milestone, but a political and cultural one too.

The unfurling of a saffron flag atop the spire of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on November 25 was choreographed to suggest both antiquity and arrival. This is a ritual that harks back to epic time, and a declaration of a new era in India’s political and cultural life. Performed on Ram Vivah Panchami, and timed to the Abhijit Muhurat - the auspicious convergence of solar and lunar energies - the ceremony was cast as an act that fused cosmology with statecraft.


For many Indians, the moment carried the weight of centuries. The Ram Janmabhoomi movement has long been a lodestone of religious sentiment, political calculation and social mobilisation. The decades of agitation, the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the long legal battles and the disciplined campaign machinery of the Sangh Parivar created a narrative of grievance, perseverance and ultimate vindication. The temple is presented as the final chapter of a struggle that wove together myth, memory and modern politics, transforming an article of faith into a national project.


The symbolism of the flag, an ancient emblem of renunciation and courage, has been folded into this narrative. Hoisted nearly 200 feet above the sanctum, it is meant to signify divine protection as well as cultural authority. That it has become a geopolitical artefact too is no accident. The tradition of Lord Ram has links to a wider Asian inheritance that ranges from from Thailand’s ‘Rama kings’ to the Ramayana-inspired epics of Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. Ayodhya, in this vocabulary, is not merely a pilgrimage town but a civilisational hub, which radiates soft power across the region.


The ceremony showcases the political ascendancy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His government’s investment in Ayodhya in form of new infrastructure, security arrangements, transport links and a flurry of urban improvements, replicates a model already deployed in Kashi and Ujjain of cultural revival yoked to economic development. These projects are a renaissance of Hindu heritage and as a spur to tourism, employment and national pride.


Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, has been an essential steward of this vision. His administration has pushed through vast roadworks, tightened policing, and expanded tourism infrastructure, ensuring that Ayodhya is not only symbolically central but materially remade. His blend of clerical authority and administrative discipline has helped institutionalise what began as a religious movement into a broader state agenda.


Ayodhya’s reinvention has been saturated in spectacle. Some 6,000 to 8,000 invited guests, Vedic chants, floral showers and conch shells gave the flag-hoisting the orchestrated grandeur of a national festival.


The saffron flag now flying over Ayodhya is intended much more than a religious marker. It is an emblem of social harmony, cultural renewal and a confident India reclaiming its place in the world. For its critics, the flag may represent exclusion as much as unity; for its supporters, it is the culmination of a long quest.


(The writer is a BJP spokesperson and resident of Ayodhya; associated with the RSS since childhood, he is currently a BJP national media panelist.)

 

Comments

bottom of page