India, June 28 -- The human mind perennially tends to keep itself occupied in comparing people, places, conditions, situations, objects, ills, looks, tastes, physiques, abilities, skills, and even romances. Never does it stop thinking, as long as it ticks. And never does it cease its habit of comparison with others. The upside of this habit could at times lead to great energies sprouting up from within, and individuals outdoing themselves with sheer will power that has emanated from comparison with a superior entity. An athlete, for instance, might propel himself onwards so willfully, and with so much power, that he breaks all personal records, in the quest for bettering the mark set by someone else. But another upshot of this tendency could often be to grill oneself mentally, beyond repair. Allow me to explain my contention. Continuous comparisons with others and an inability to settle the mind lead only to continued disappointment. The more we compare, the more we lose, in a sense. An aphorism which is surprisingly little known goes thus: "The best is the enemy of the good." When I heard this a few years ago, I wondered where it had been all these years. And I wrote, thereafter, in these columns a piece titled, 'The needless pursuit of perfection.' But even more than chasing perfection, which is truly a lost cause, humans suffer since they are never truly satisfied with any achievement. It is the greatest irony of human existence that while we must endeavour to constantly improve, we may never reach the absolute pinnacle, barring a few sportspersons and creative maestros, who have earned the right to that label. The rest of us must plough on, towards gradual betterment, but all the while we must soak in whatever good that we have achieved. The minds of youngsters must be encouraged rather than disparaged. When parents inordinately compare their progeny with kids of relatives and those of sundry neighbours, they cause much harm to their beloved children. The tender minds of these young ones are often bombarded with comparison of all kinds. 'So and so has more marks than you!' or 'He is much more disciplined than you are!' Common refrains of this kind from parents, hardly ever lead to any significant enhancement of a child's performances, as any psychologist will tell us. They lead, in fact, to the throttling of the child's natural ability to grow and glow, while his or her journey progresses. At a large gathering of school students a few years ago, I was on stage and had just concluded my address on 'The true meaning of success'. A youngster in the back row raised a hand as soon as question time commenced. "Sir, my parents keep on comparing me to others! What should I do?" Five hundred students watched and listened intently, most of them evidently having to go through similar pressure almost every day. I had no option but to take a deep breath and to state emphatically, "My friend, I am certain that your parents love you, even though their methods may be wrong at times! And I am sure that you are much better than those others at certain other skills, even though they may be superior in studies!" The lad seemed quite satisfied with my answer but I realized that I need to scold parents more often! Just kidding. Many of us are parents after all. And we've all been guilty of such tendencies at times. Instagram has exacerbated the situation. Ogling at the high life that unknown others lead has become a pastime of the masses. The tendency to feel low follows, and even a sense of despair may result. Gen Z is thus the worst sufferer. Those who should know better had better get their act together. Why go on piling the pressure on our young ones? Can all youngsters make it to the lofty citadels of the IAS, the IIT, the IIM or the Indian cricket team? Are the rest of the millions no good? Since when was life's eventual outcome decided by such breakthroughs? Does the back bencher lose out to the front bencher in life? Who is to decide? Comparisons are odious even today. Let's not indulge overly in them!...