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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.”

Family Feint

In Maharashtra’s endlessly theatrical politics, the prospect of a Thackeray reunion makes for irresistible drama. Uddhav Thackeray, the beleaguered chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, the equally beleaguered head of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), have signalled a willingness to mend fences. Each said he was prepared to put aside ‘minor differences’ for the greater good of Maharashtra. It sounded magnanimous. It also sounded suspiciously convenient.


Raj Thackeray, speaking on a podcast, made the first overture, declaring that for him Maharashtra’s interests trumped personal disputes. He offered to work with Uddhav, with the thinly veiled challenge whether the latter was ready to work with him. Uddhav responded in kind - but with conditions. Raj, he warned, must shun forces that were ‘anti-Maharashtra,’ a euphemism for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Sena (UBT)’s chief adversary.


The cousins’ feud dates back nearly two decades to 2005, when Raj quit the Shiv Sena after Uddhav, with their uncle Bal Thackeray’s blessing, was elevated over him. Raj’s formation of the MNS in 2006 was a public declaration that he would not serve under Uddhav’s shadow. That rift, personal and political, has shaped the trajectory of Maharashtra’s regional politics ever since.


Today, both cousins are diminished figures with their political fortunes at an all-time low. Uddhav, forced out of office by a BJP-backed coup, has lost both the chief ministership and the official Sena party symbol. Raj’s MNS, after early bursts of populist success, has shrivelled into an afterthought after having tried every coalition. The BJP’s dominance has left the once-powerful Thackeray name battered. Against this backdrop, talk of unity is less a stirring call to Marathi pride than a grim calculation for survival.


The real obstacle to a reunion is not ideology but ego. The fundamental question that drove them apart remains unresolved: who will lead? Raj, still bristling with a charisma Uddhav never quite matched, appears unwilling to subordinate himself. On Uddhav’s side, the emergence of his wife Rashmi Thackeray as a political strategist and son Aaditya Thackeray as heir apparent complicates any equation that might allow Raj a prominent role.


In short, both men want a reunion, but on their own terms. Sanjay Raut, Uddhav’s lieutenant, put a brave face by calling the Thackeray bond ‘permanent’ and hinting that Maharashtra would welcome a united front against the BJP’s encroachments. A joint Thackeray force could re-energize the Marathi vote and disrupt the BJP’s plans to further hollow out Maharashtra’s regional parties. But such a union would require rare self-effacement from two leaders whose careers have been defined by wounded pride.


Past experience suggests caution. The Thackerays are experts at creating public spectacles of rapprochement without following through. Temporary truces have often collapsed under the weight of old grievances and competing ambitions. If Uddhav and Raj truly wish to salvage their relevance, they must not only reconcile but reinvent themselves for a new political era.

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