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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.)

Late Reckoning

As Canada seeks to reset a badly frayed relationship with India, Ottawa has initiated proceedings to revoke the citizenship of Tahawwur Rana, the Pakistan-born businessman accused of playing a key role in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks that killed 166 people. Coming just ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India, the decision reads less like an attempt to undo some of the diplomatic and moral damage accumulated during the Justin Trudeau years.


The twist, here, is that Canada is not acting against Rana for terrorism. It is acting because he lied on a form a quarter-century ago. Canadian immigration authorities allege that Rana misrepresented his residency when applying for citizenship in 2000, claiming near-continuous residence in Ottawa and Toronto. Investigators later concluded that he had in fact spent much of that time in Chicago, running businesses and owning property. The case has been referred to the Federal Court, where government lawyers have also sought to withhold sensitive national-security material.


That such a consequential figure is being pursued on technical grounds rather than on the substance of his alleged crimes is telling. Rana, a close associate of David Coleman Headley, is accused by Indian investigators of helping enable the Mumbai attacks. He was convicted in the United States for plotting to attack a Danish newspaper, extradited to India in April last year and arrested by the National Investigation Agency upon arrival in New Delhi. Yet for years before that, Canada remained a reluctant actor, a passive host rather than an active partner in accountability.


This reluctance was not an isolated failing but part of a broader pattern. Under Trudeau, Canada has acquired an unsavoury reputation as a permissive jurisdiction for India’s most vicious enemies. The relationship between the two countries collapsed in 2023, when Ottawa accused Indian agents of killing a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil - an allegation India angrily rejected - triggering reciprocal expulsions of diplomats and the suspension of trade talks. Well before this, Khalistani extremists have always operated with remarkable ease in Canada, getting room to organise, raise funds and glorify violence under the banner of free expression there.


The Rana affair crystallised that mistrust. India’s repeated requests for cooperation were met with legal caution and political hesitancy. India has come to see Canada as a permissive space for its most virulent adversaries. Acting in the Rana case at this late date in order to strike successful deals with India on trade, energy, technology and defence, seems opportunistic.


Whether this amounts to a genuine reset remains to be seen. The larger test, however, is political. Will Ottawa under Carney draw a firmer line between dissent and extremism, and match its liberal rhetoric with enforcement? If not, today’s procedural resolve will look like a diplomatic courtesy call. If yes, Canada may yet discover that moral posturing cannot mask the geopolitical

costs of tolerating extremism, or recover trust once it has been spent.

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