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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 Fracture

Updated: Nov 7, 2024

Family Fracture

After more than a year of frenetic speculation, the Pawars of Baramati now seem to be visibly and definitively divided. This Diwali, Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, broke a five-decade tradition by hosting his own Diwali Padwa celebration, a custom long overseen by his uncle, Sharad Pawar, at his Govind Baugh residence in Baramati. The split festivities underscore a deepening fissure within Maharashtra’s most iconic political dynasty, and mark Ajit’s intent to assert an independent influence over the constituency his uncle has cultivated for decades.


While Ajit’s decision to join the ruling Mahayuti coalition with the BJP and CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena in July 2023 after splitting the NCP founded by his uncle indicated a clear rift, the political class and public alike had remained sceptical about its genuineness. Many believed it was a strategic divergence rather than a lasting break—a ploy by the Machiavellian Pawar senior the high-stakes chess game of Maharashtra politics. Ajit’s frequent meetings with Sharad Pawar at different venues in the months immediately after the rift only fueled these suspicions, suggesting he might eventually return to his uncle’s fold and that it was an elaborate deception plan to checkmate the BJP in Maharashtra led by Devendra Fadnavis.

While these rumours about Ajit being a ‘Trojan Horse’ in the ‘enemy’ Mahayuti camp continue to simmer, Ajit’s decision to host his own Diwali Padwa celebrations ought to send a resounding message that this split is genuine and unlikely to heal soon.


However, since last July, the rift between the two NCP factions has only deepened, culminating in the bitterly contested Baramati Lok Sabha race. Sharad Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, the opposition MVA’s candidate, decisively held her seat against a strong challenge from Ajit’s wife, Sunetra, representing the Mahayuti.


Despite Ajit Pawar and the BJP and Shinde Sena straining every sinew for Sunetra Pawar, she lost heavily to Supriya Sule by over 1.5 lakh votes – a defeat that continues to rankles with Ajit and adding to the ignominy of Lok Sabha defeats from his family. (In 2019, Ajit’s son, Parth Pawar, had crashed in the Maval Lok Sabha contest, becoming the first member in the Pawar clan to lose an election).


Sule’s win demonstrated the formidable support base the senior Pawar faction still commands in Baramati. Now, to supplant Ajit as legislator of Baramati Assembly segment, which he has held for nearly 35 years straight, the canny Sharad Pawar has fielded Ajit’s own nephew, Yugendra, giving a perverse yet ironic twist to the uncle-nephew saga in Maharashtra politics.


In this light, Ajit’s Padwa gathering indicated that the divide within the family is no longer a mere rumour but a palpable, public reality. His decision to hold a separate Padwa celebration now makes the split appear irrevocable while indicating his steely resolve to defend Baramati against his own nephew, Yugendra Pawar.

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