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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.”

Is Rohit Pawar being groomed for a bigger role?

Updated: Oct 25, 2024

A CLOSE CONNECT WITH THE ELECTORATE AND HIS GREAT UNCLE’S FAITH IN HIM MAKE ROHIT PAWAR A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH IN THE NCP(SP)


Rohit Pawar

Mumbai: Rohit Pawar has the right credentials---he’s young, is popular in his constituency, delivers impactful speeches, has stayed loyal to his great uncle Sharad Pawar after the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) split and bears the Pawar surname.


When Pawar senior asked Rohit to sit beside him during a press conference at his Modi Baug residence in Pune last year, it was a signal to party workers and the people at large that he had found a successor in the third generation of his family to lead the party. “I don’t have to worry about my old colleagues who have joined the other party. My priority is to create new leadership for Maharashtra,” he had said then. Ever since, Rohit’s role and popularity in the party are growing.


During the Lok Sabha elections this year, he toiled to ensure a victory for his aunt Supriya Sule while politely sidestepping questions about his other aunt and Sule’s political opponent, Sunetra Pawar.


Sauve and a son-of-the-soil together, Rohit has worked his way into the politics of Baramati by getting elected to the Zilla Parishad in 2017. Two years later, his uncle announced his candidature to the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency and Rohit won with a handsome margin. He showed no hurry to jump into a ministerial responsibility unlike some of his peers and chose to continue his work at the grassroots level.


Rohit is yet another member of the large and closely knit Pawar family. His grandfather Dr Appasaheb Pawar was Sharad Pawar’s older brother. Rohit’s parents, too, are closely involved in the social and educational activities of Baramati with strong connections with the people. His father Rajendra is chairman of Baramati Agro that provides employment to hundreds of people with a boost to the rural economy. He also heads the Agricultural Development Trust in Baramati that is at the forefront of cutting-edge research in the fields of agriculture and provides assistance and technical know-how to agriculturists. Rohit’s mother has struck a chord with the women of Baramati and of her son’s electoral constituency by running hostels, providing sanitary care and working for the upliftment and empowerment of rural women.


Encouraged by his great uncle, Rohit undertook a Yuva Sangharsha Yatra which began from Pune in October last year but suspended it in solidarity with the demand for Maratha reservations. It was an attempt to engage with the youth across the state especially in the western Maharashtra belt which has been the party bastion.


Rohit’s elevation in the party is believed to have ruffled Ajit’s feathers especially after he picked Rohit for the Maharashtra legislative party elections in 2019. Party leaders say that it was clear that the senior Pawar favoured Rohit over Ajit’s son Parth who had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls. “Ajit Pawar had made enemies within the party’s senior leadership. Rohit doesn’t come with that baggage and he’s not spoken against his uncle Ajit either. He is more acceptable to party workers for his more approachable manner of working,” says a party insider. 


Ajit’s departure has made way for a bigger role for Rohit. He’s seen to be dynamic but not aggressive; is softer in his approach and interactions. His elevation to the president’s role of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, following in Pawar senior’s footsteps, is also seen as a stamp of approval.

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