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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.”

Golden Gate

Few stretches of coastline are as geopolitically freighted as the one around Iran’s Chabahar port. At the mouth of the Gulf of Oman, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the Shahid Beheshti terminal has long been coveted as a maritime gateway to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia. For India, which has invested heavily in the project, Chabahar - long called the ‘Golden Gate - represents both a lifeline and a lever: a way to bypass hostile Pakistan, expand trade into Eurasia and counter China’s inroads through Pakistan’s Gwadar port. For Washington, however, the calculus has shifted.


On September 29, the Trump administration will revoke the sanctions waiver that had shielded Chabahar since 2018. From then on, anyone involved in operating, financing or servicing the terminal will face the same Treasury restrictions as other Iranian entities. This decision, framed as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran, will reverberate far beyond Iran’s shores.


The origins of India’s involvement go back decades. As early as 2001, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government signed accords with Tehran to develop the port. Plans faltered when George W. Bush cast Iran as part of an “Axis of Evil,” making partnership toxic. But India returned to the project with fresh vigour in subsequent years, culminating in a 2024 deal under Joe Biden’s administration that gave India Ports Global Ltd a ten-year lease to equip and operate Chabahar. That agreement included $120m in promised investment and a $250m line of credit. India has already supplied cranes and other gear. Chabahar has also served humanitarian purposes, such as the supply of vaccines during the pandemic and pesticides to Iran during locust infestations.


In 2018, when America grudgingly allowed Chabahar to function, the rationale was Afghanistan: then run by an elected government, the country needed reliable access to supplies. That logic, Washington argues, no longer applies. Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, the port’s role in reconstruction has evaporated. What remains, in the eyes of Mr Trump’s officials, is a revenue stream for Tehran’s regional mischief-making.


Yet the collateral damage will hit India. New Delhi is not only exposed financially - as millions already sunk into port infrastructure are now at risk - but strategically as well. Chabahar is a node in the International North-South Transport Corridor, a route meant to tie the Indian Ocean to northern Europe via Iran, the Caspian and Russia. Undermining this project diminishes India’s reach into Eurasia, just as Beijing expands its Belt and Road network. With Gwadar less than 200 km away, China gains from any weakening of India’s position.


This comes at a time when relations between New Delhi and Washington are already strained over Trump’s punitive tariffs on Indian exports. For the Modi government, which has tried to balance its relations with both Iran and America, the revocation forces a stark choice: risk American ire by persisting at Chabahar, or retreat and cede the field to rivals.


For years Washington urged India to play a bigger role in stabilising Afghanistan and diversifying regional supply chains. Chabahar was the instrument for precisely that ambition. By suddenly rescinding the waiver, America not only hurts India but also narrows its own options in South and Central Asia. Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule, remains isolated. Central Asian republics, meanwhile, increasingly tilt towards Russia and China for connectivity. Washington may weaken Iran, but it inadvertently strengthens Beijing.


India’s room for manoeuvre is limited. Yet it cannot abandon Iran as Chabahar remains the only viable overland route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that bypasses Pakistan. New Delhi may try to lobby Congress or the State Department to restore a carve-out, citing the port’s humanitarian role. Failing that, it could seek creative workarounds. But any such moves would be fraught with risk.


For Iran, the sanctions cut both ways. Tehran wants Indian investment to offset its economic isolation. It also values India as a counterweight to China’s growing dominance. If India retreats, Iran may have little choice but to lean harder on Beijing, deepening the very dependency New Delhi fears.

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