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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.)

Winged Farewell

For more than six decades a needle-nosed silhouette has defined the Indian Air Force (IAF). The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 inducted in 1963 was a fixture of India’s military identity. Over 1,200 were acquired and for generations of pilots, their first brush with supersonic flight came at the controls of this Soviet workhorse. Today, as the IAF bids goodbye to the MiG-21 with a final ceremonial flight, the send-off marks the end of an era. It is also the beginning of a reckoning.


The MiG-21’s legacy is inextricably bound up with India’s modern military history. It was the hero of four conflicts with Pakistan, beginning with the 1965 war when India’s fledgling fleet of supersonic interceptors bested American-supplied Sabres. Its blistering climb rate, Mach-2 speed and nimble agility proved transformative in a region where air power was still rudimentary. Later, in 1971, the MiG-21 not only defended Indian skies but also strafed and bombed Pakistani positions, contributing to a decisive victory.


More than an instrument of war, the MiG-21 was virtually a classroom in the sky. Practically every IAF fighter pilot has trained on one variant or another. Over time the fleet expanded into a veritable alphabet of Soviet engineering - MiG-21s, 23s, 25s, 27s and 29s - that by 2006 made the Air Force jokingly known as the ‘MiG Air Force.’ The original, though, retained a mystique, being endlessly upgraded with new avionics, missiles and radars.


That versatility embodied the pragmatism of the IAF which stretched the jet’s utility far beyond the design expectations of its Russian makers. But longevity came at a price. By the 1990s, as airframes aged and the world moved on to stealth and multirole platforms, the MiG-21 increasingly looked like a relic. Its safety record deteriorated. More than 300 crashes over the decades scarred its reputation and gave rise to the chilling epithet of the ‘flying coffin.’


Yet to reduce its story to that unhappy nickname would be unjust. Few aircraft in aviation history have served so long, so widely or so faithfully.


The MiG-21 was both spear and shield for India. It also symbolised the Indo-Russian defence relationship, which has endured through ideological shifts, sanctions and strategic realignments.


The phasing out of the MiG-21 symbolizes a solemn moment of transition. The IAF is now pinning hopes on the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft to take up the mantle. If it succeeds, it will mark a strategic leap from dependency to self-reliance in military aviation.


The MiG-21 bows out with mixed emotions of pride, nostalgia and sorrow. It protected India’s skies in its most vulnerable decades, trained generations of aviators, and carried the tricolour into aerial duels that defined national memory.


Its final salute is also a reminder that sentimentality must not cloud sober assessment. Ageing platforms must give way to safer, more capable aircraft. The MiG-21 served India with distinction. Now the Tejas must prove it can do the same.

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