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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.)

Local Votes, Larger Reckonings

The eagerly-anticipated municipal elections in Maharashtra will decide which parties truly own urban India’s second-most powerful state.

The forthcoming municipal elections in Maharashtra, covering 29 municipal corporations, are officially exercises in local self-government. In practice, they are something closer to a mid-term audit of the State’s political balance. From Mumbai to Pune, Nagpur to Nashik, Sambhajinagar to Kolhapur, these contests will test which parties command genuine urban support and which survive mainly on alliances, symbolism or inertia.


Municipal elections matter precisely because they are small. They are fought ward by ward, lane by lane, complaint by complaint. Unlike assembly or parliamentary polls, they reward visibility over rhetoric and delivery over ideology. Roads that cave in after the monsoon, water taps that run dry by noon, garbage piles that outlast election posters are the metrics by which corporators are judged. Urban voters, particularly the middle class, are unforgiving. They pay taxes, queue for permissions and sit in traffic; civic failure is not an abstraction but a daily irritation. That is why municipal polls so often unsettle grand political calculations.


Nowhere is this more evident than in Mumbai. Control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of Asia’s richest civic bodies, has long been a proxy for political dominance in Maharashtra. The BJP, allied with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, sees the BMC as both a prize and a proof point: a chance to consolidate power in India’s financial capital and demonstrate that its urban ascent is durable. For the Shinde faction, Mumbai is existential. It must show that it has inherited not just the party name but the Shiv Sena’s organisational muscle and voter loyalty.


Yet the arithmetic has been complicated by the tentative reunion of estranged cousins. The understanding between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray has injected emotion into what was shaping up as a managerial contest.


For voters nostalgic about the older, more culturally assertive Shiv Sena, the optics are powerful. But sentiment alone rarely wins ward elections. Coordination, candidate selection and booth-level discipline will determine whether this rapprochement translates into votes. Congress’s decision to contest independently in Mumbai further muddies the waters, potentially fragmenting opposition support and quietly aiding the BJP-led alliance. Had the Thackeray brothers reconciled earlier, the shockwaves would have been greater. As it stands, the reunion is meaningful but not yet decisive.


Urban Aspirations

Pune tells a different story. A fast-growing, middle-class-heavy city, it is impatient with excuses. Traffic congestion, erratic water supply, weak public transport and haphazard development dominate civic conversations. The BJP has built a formidable base here and will seek to defend it, but discontent with planning failures and internal leadership rivalries could prove costly. Opposition parties hope that anger over infrastructure will convert into ballots, though dissatisfaction does not always find an electoral outlet.


The simmering question is whether Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will eventually align. They tend to unite when power beckons, but Sharad Pawar’s political timing is famously inscrutable. The rivalry between figures such as Murlidhar Mohol and Ravindra Dhangekar adds another layer of risk for the ruling alliance.


Nagpur carries symbolism disproportionate to its size. Home to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, it is expected to showcase the dividends of political prominence. Voters will judge whether that prominence has delivered better roads, reliable water and thoughtful expansion. A strong showing would reinforce the BJP’s governance narrative; signs of fatigue would echo across the state. Nagpur’s politics has turned before, often when confidence shaded into complacency. Caste equations remain influential, making candidate choice as important as party brand.


In Nashik, complexity reigns. The city sits at the intersection of rapid urbanisation, religious tourism and an agriculture-linked economy. Civic issues have kept leaders under scrutiny. Alliances are fluid and local heavyweights matter.


The forthcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela and the controversy over tree-felling at Tapovan have tested the BJP’s credibility. Delayed communication and reactive decision-making have not helped. Unless the chief minister intervenes decisively, winning Nashik’s corporation could remain elusive for the ruling party.


Sambhajinagar reflects Maharashtra’s layered politics: identity, aspiration and impatience entwined. Frequent political shifts signal voter frustration with promises unmet. Employment, industrial growth and infrastructure dominate middle-class concerns. Symbolism alone will not suffice. The BJP’s local organisation appears weaker here, potentially giving the Shinde camp an edge. An overly aggressive approach by the BJP could backfire, especially with the Uddhav Thackeray faction and the MNS poised to exploit gaps.


Kolhapur, by contrast, underscores the enduring power of local leadership. Flood control, urban amenities and agriculture-linked support systems shape voter preferences. National parties struggle if they fail to adapt their narratives to local realities. Individual credibility often outweighs party labels, making candidate selection crucial. While the BJP and the Shinde-led Sena see an opening amid civic underperformance, Congress and Ajit Pawar’s group remain formidable. For Congress leader Satej Patil, the contest is a direct test of political heft.


Across Maharashtra, the BJP–Shinde alliance remains the dominant pole, but seat-sharing disputes and local ambitions threaten cohesion. The Thackeray cousins’ cooperation could reshape contests in select cities if discipline holds. Congress’s solo run adds volatility, especially where margins are thin.


For urban voters, these elections are an opportunity to influence governance where it touches daily life. Corporators who answer calls, navigate bureaucracy and deliver incremental improvements often matter more than lofty manifestos. The municipal verdicts will therefore measure not just political strategy but public patience.


When the ballots are counted, they will do more than populate city councils. They will reveal which parties have invested in local leadership and which have mistaken alliances and slogans for organisation. In Maharashtra, the road to power still runs through the city street.


(The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)

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