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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Healing Beyond the Clinic

Dr Kirti Samudra “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This thought by Mother Teresa finds reflection in the life of Panvel-based diabetologist Dr Kirti Samudra, who has spent decades caring not only for her family but also thousands of patients who see her as their guide. As we mark International Women’s Day, stories like hers remind us that women of substance often shape society quietly through compassion, resilience and dedication. Doctor, mother, homemaker,...

Healing Beyond the Clinic

Dr Kirti Samudra “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This thought by Mother Teresa finds reflection in the life of Panvel-based diabetologist Dr Kirti Samudra, who has spent decades caring not only for her family but also thousands of patients who see her as their guide. As we mark International Women’s Day, stories like hers remind us that women of substance often shape society quietly through compassion, resilience and dedication. Doctor, mother, homemaker, mentor and philanthropist — Dr Samudra has balanced many roles with commitment. While she manages a busy medical practice, her deeper calling has always been service. For her, medicine is not merely a profession but a responsibility towards the people who depend on her guidance. Nagpur to Panvel Born and raised in Nagpur, Dr Samudra completed her medical education there before moving to Mumbai in search of better opportunities. The early years were challenging. With determination, she and her husband Girish Samudra, an entrepreneur involved in underwater pipeline projects, chose to build their life in Panvel. At a time when the town was still developing and healthcare awareness was limited, she decided to make it both her workplace and home. What began with modest resources gradually grew into a trusted medical practice built on long-standing relationships with patients. Fighting Diabetes Recognising the growing threat of diabetes, Dr Samudra dedicated her career to treating and educating patients about the disease. Over the years, she has registered nearly 30,000 patients from Panvel and nearby areas. Yet she believes treatment alone is not enough. “Diabetes is a lifelong disease. Medicines are important, but patient education is equally critical. If people understand the condition, they can manage it better and prevent complications,” she says. For more than 27 years, she has organised an Annual Patients’ Education Programme, offering diagnostic tests at concessional rates and sessions on lifestyle management. Family, Practice With her husband frequently travelling for business, much of the responsibility of raising their two children fell on Dr Samudra. Instead of expanding her practice aggressively, she kept it close to home and adjusted her OPD timings around her children’s schedules. “It was not easy,” she recalls, “but I wanted to fulfil my responsibilities as a mother while continuing to serve my patients.” Beyond Medicine Today, Dr Samudra also devotes time to social initiatives through the Bharat Vikas Parishad, where she serves as Regional Head. Her projects include  Plastic Mukta Vasundhara , which promotes reduced use of single-use plastic, and  Sainik Ho Tumchyasathi , an initiative that sends Diwali  faral  (snack hamper) to Indian soldiers posted at the borders. Last year alone, 15,000 boxes were sent to troops. Despite decades of service, she measures success not in wealth but in goodwill. “I may not have earned huge money,” she says, “but I have earned immense love and respect from my patients. That is something I will always be grateful for.”

A House Divided

South Korea heads to a snap election scarred by the ghosts of martial law, conspiracy theories and an emboldened political fringe.

The expulsion by South Korea’s Constitutional Court of its country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol from office, was a damning verdict on a nation’s fragile democratic resilience. In the wake of Yoon’s reckless declaration of martial law, the country now prepares for a snap presidential election on June 3, its political landscape fractured and festering. The vote, mandated within 60 days of Yoon’s ouster, will determine not only the next five-year occupant of the Blue House but also the future of South Korea’s contested democracy.


At first glance, the upcoming election is a familiar two-way duel between the conservative People Power Party (PPP) and the centre-left Democratic Party (DP). But beneath that veneer of bipartisanship lies more volatile undercurrents.


The DP, still basking in the glow of its successful impeachment of Yoon, enters the race with momentum. Its presumptive nominee, Lee Jae-myung, commands near-total control over his party and the electoral spotlight. Lee’s path to power appears clear: he has no serious internal challengers, and his popularity remains intact among party loyalists. Yet he is also a man under legal siege, facing five criminal trials that would all but vanish if he wins. His supporters regard him as a populist reformer who resisted Yoon’s overreach; his critics deride him as a demagogue who orchestrated a legislative coup and now seeks immunity by way of the presidency.


If Lee represents ruthless calculation wrapped in reformist rhetoric, the PPP is chaos incarnate. The party is torn between Yoon loyalists, reformist dissenters, and a conspiracy-addled base that believes the former president was a martyr, not a menace. Yoon’s martial law gambit, a chilling echo of South Korea’s authoritarian past, not only ignited fears of democratic backsliding but also splintered the conservative movement into warring camps. Some PPP lawmakers defied party orthodoxy to impeach him; others still defend him with a fervour more commonly associated with cult leaders than constitutionalists.


This internal schism could prove fatal. Ten PPP figures have signalled interest in running, but none has emerged as a unifying presence. Among them, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has opted for ambiguity, while former PPP leader Han Dong-hoon and technocrat Ahn Cheol-soo (both of whom supported Yoon’s impeachment) have tried to position themselves as palatable to moderates. Meanwhile, Yoon loyalists such as Labor Minister Kim Moon Soo and Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo remain determined to carry their disgraced patron’s torch, even as it singes the party's electoral prospects.


Complicating matters further is the rise of a radicalised fringe. Yoon’s presidency may be over, but his presence still looms large on South Korea’s digital battlegrounds. Right-wing YouTubers now claim that election was fraudulent, blaming Yoon’s fall to North Korean moles and Chinese meddling. Their videos have found a receptive audience among South Koreans distrustful of the mainstream press and wary of encirclement by hostile neighbours.


In January, Yoon’s supporters stormed a Seoul courthouse, attacking police officers with metal beams. In March, an elderly man self-immolated near city hall, leaving behind fliers accusing opposition leaders of communist sympathies.


The PPP thus faces a cruel paradox: the more it courts Yoon’s base, the less it appeals to the broader electorate. And yet abandoning Yoon outright could provoke a backlash from his diehard followers.


For South Korea, the stakes of this election are existential. The country finds itself at a perilous juncture: geopolitically squeezed by China and North Korea, economically beset by slowing growth, and internally riven by populist theatrics. It needs a president who can transcend partisan vendettas, reassert democratic norms and restore public trust in its institutions. Whether Lee Jae-myung is capable of this is uncertain. That the PPP is struggling to produce a credible alternative is even more alarming. South Koreans, weary of drama but unwilling to disengage, will now decide this coming June whether their future is built on grievance or grounded in governance.

 

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