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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.)

Slaying Demons

Each year, Dussehra offers a timeless lesson of the triumph of the good over evil. The effigies of Ravana, towering with their ten grotesque heads, symbolise the many evils humanity must overcome. For India today, those heads are all too real. From Pakistan’s continued sponsorship of terror exemplified in the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack to US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs, to the ever-pressing burdens of energy shortages and climate extremes - the country faces demons on multiple fronts. There is another Ravana lurking within in form of the Opposition’s persistent bid to fracture India along caste and religious lines.


The Pahalgam outrage in April this year where terrorists massacred Indian civilians by segregating them on basis of religion was a grim reminder of Pakistan’s unchanging playbook. The government’s response was swift: suspension of elements of the Indus Waters Treaty and targeted military operations – Operation Sindoor and Mahadev - to eliminate key terror operatives.


If security challenges are one set of heads, trade pressure is another. America’s tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian exports have unsettled markets, cut into jobs in textiles and gems, and exposed overdependence on a narrow set of buyers. Its stringent fee on H1 B visas have jeopardized aspirations of many Indian households. Yet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has sought to turn adversity into advantage. Fresh trade pacts with Europe and other blocs (including strategic convergence with our rival China), a renewed push for ‘Make in India’ and an expansion of digital and physical infrastructure all reveal a strategy of resilience.


India faces a more insidious domestic danger in form of an irresponsible Opposition, which has often peddled anti-India narratives instead of calling the ruling government to account on actual issues. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s relentless spewing of vitriol on the government while casting aspersions on the functioning of paramount bodies like the Election Commission has threatened to undermine unity at a time when India requires collective resolve to withstand foreign hostility and economic strain. By playing identity politics, the Congress and other parties of its ilk have tried to weakened the national consensus needed to sustain security doctrines.


Dussehra’s symbolism offers an answer. Just as Rama’s arrow felled Ravana not through brute force but through precision, India’s way forward lies in steady focus. Militarily, that means deterrence against terror sponsors. Economically, it means diversifying trade, fostering innovation and reducing dependence on any one foreign market. Politically, it requires rejecting the false narratives of caste warfare and affirming a unifying vision of development and dignity.


Modi’s government has shown flashes of that resolve. As the effigies burn tonight, the lesson is not only about good vanquishing evil but about vigilance. Demons reappear, sometimes in different guises. While one head wears the mask of cross-border terror, another wears the armour of economic coercion and the garb of domestic demagoguery. All must fall.

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