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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.”

Knesset in Crisis

A battle over God and guns leaves Netanyahu in political purgatory.

In Israel, governments seldom die of natural causes. Instead, they implode. The recent resignation of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party from Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition has left Israel’s longest-serving prime minister politically exposed once again. The departure follows a similar move by United Torah Judaism (UTJ) earlier in the week, both over the government’s failure to guarantee continued military draft exemptions for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva students. The exits have reduced Netanyahu’s grip on the Knesset to a precarious minority of just 50 of 120 seats.


Since Israel’s founding, ultra-Orthodox men studying in religious seminaries have been largely exempt from mandatory military service. But 21 months into Israel’s grinding war in Gaza, public tolerance for this arrangement is fraying. While the sons and daughters of secular Israelis are sent to fight, the sight of thousands of Haredi men exempted from the front lines is increasingly resented. Netanyahu’s efforts to codify permanent exemptions have angered a broad swathe of the population and even his own allies.


For now, the collapse is partial. Shas has left the cabinet but promises not to vote down the government. That leaves Netanyahu at the mercy of his far-right coalition partners, who have little appetite for compromise. The government’s agenda, already beholden to figures like Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, will now become even more extreme, especially on matters related to Gaza. With ceasefire talks underway, Netanyahu’s room for manoeuvre just got smaller.


The paradox of Israeli politics is that its electoral system, which is proportional representation with a low threshold, ensures no party ever rules alone. Governments are stitched together from coalitions that often include ideological opposites. In such an environment, the ultra-Orthodox parties, though representing only about 13 percent of the population, wield outsize power. They vote as blocs, demand concrete religious concessions and are expert in the political dark arts of brinkmanship.


Shas, in particular, has long been a master of this game. It has served in coalitions led by left-leaning Labour, centrist Kadima, and right-wing Likud. Its loyalty is transactional. In 1999, when Ehud Barak defeated Netanyahu in a surprise landslide, it was partly because Shas withheld support. In 2015, the party returned to Likud's fold, extracting generous welfare concessions and funding for religious schools.


Minority governments in Israel are not unprecedented, but they are always short-lived. In 1990, Yitzhak Shamir briefly led a minority government after Labour pulled out. In 2022, the ‘change government’ led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid lost its majority just a year into power. Netanyahu himself has governed from the edge before, but never while waging a major war and fending off both international pressure and domestic protest.


The timing of the ultra-Orthodox walkout is telling. The Knesset is scheduled to begin a three-month recess on July 27, giving Netanyahu a rare window to recalibrate. But the optics are damning. As bodies pile up in Gaza and Israelis debate the future of the military draft, Netanyahu appears unable to govern. This perception is worsened by his ongoing corruption trial that has bolstered opposition leader Yair Lapid, who wasted no time in declaring the government “illegitimate” and demanding new elections.


Discontent over the Gaza war, inflation and judicial overreach has swelled into periodic mass protests. The issue of Haredi conscription has only intensified the sense that Netanyahu’s coalition represents a narrow sectarian agenda rather than the national interest.


Still, writing off Netanyahu would be premature. The man known as ‘the magician’ has an uncanny ability to survive political near-death experiences. His current government, formed in December 2022, was already the most right-wing and religious in Israel’s history. Stripped of two ultra-Orthodox pillars, it is a skeleton cabinet, capable of limping forward but unable to legislate, reform or pursue diplomacy.


Netanyahu’s options are narrowing. He could call early elections. He could court centrist defectors. Or he could cling on, hoping that geopolitical winds tilt events in his favour.

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