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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.)

Strategic Self-Harm

India’s primary opposition party, the Congress, has often struggled to look like a government-in-waiting. But rarely has it sounded so eager to undermine the very idea of the state. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and veteran Congressman Prithviraj Chavan’s remarks on ‘Operation Sindoor’ - India’s military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack - do precisely that. They are not just ill-judged but are a case study in strategic self-harm, delivered with the assurance of a man who should have known better.


Chavan, long regarded as one of the Congress most erudite faces, told a press conference in Pune that India was “completely defeated” on the very first day of the operation. The air force, he claimed, was “fully grounded” for fear that Pakistani defences would shoot down Indian aircraft. He went further, questioning whether India even needs a standing army of 12 lakh soldiers in an age supposedly dominated by missiles and aircraft.


Such claims are not just implausible but reckless. India has officially refuted suggestions that its fighter jets were shot down. No serious military analyst believes the Indian air force was paralysed by fear given the mauling that we delivered to Pakistan, which rattled even the United States.


That this provocation echoes the talking points of Rahul Gandhi is no coincidence. The Congress leader has made a habit of questioning the competence of India’s armed forces and the credibility of military operations. Whenever confronted with a national-security moment that rallies public opinion behind the government, the Congress seems to choose scepticism bordering on self-sabotage.


The timing makes the performance even more puzzling. Maharashtra is heading towards crucial civic elections, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The Congress is already the weakest link in a fragile MVA.


In 2012, before the start of the civic polls elections under a Congress-led state government, Chavan had made similarly dramatic statements that handed political ammunition to the then undivided Shiv Sena and the BJP. The result was a rout for the Congress.


What explains this compulsion? One answer is weakness. Parties confident of their ground game do not need to manufacture outrage. They do not gamble with national-security narratives to stay relevant. Another is a deeper malaise within the Congress is an inability to distinguish between legitimate scrutiny of the government and gratuitous denigration of state institutions.


Chavan’s suggestion that future wars will be fought without ground forces betrays a startling naïveté for someone who once occupied the CM’s office. Modern warfare is indeed evolving. But no serious doctrine - Indian, American or Chinese - has dispensed with the centrality of ground forces, especially in contested, mountainous terrain like Kashmir.


More troubling is the signal such statements send beyond India’s borders. Pakistan does not need to invent propaganda when Indian opposition leaders are willing to supply it. Nor do India’s soldiers, deployed in difficult conditions, need to hear their relevance questioned by a former head of government.

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