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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.”

Leading the Co-operative Movement

Vikhe-Patil

For the Vikhe-Patil family, whose interests go beyond politics, party doesn’t really matter. In the past seven decades, various members of the family have been part of all major parties with the objective of keeping their hold over their home—Ahmednagar, intact.


 While the family flourished under the aegis of Balasaheb or Eknathrao Vikhe-Patil who was a union minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, it was his father to took the first steps towards public life. Vithalrao set up Asia’s first ever sugar co-operative factory soon after Independence and brought prosperity to the rural population.


Balasaheb set up educational institutes with schools, medical and engineering colleges which increased the family’s influence over the region. As a Congress leader, he represented Ahmednagar in Lok Sabha seven times and left the Congress twice to lead different fronts.


 It is the said that the Vikhe-Patil didn’t want to stay away from power for long.


In the 1990s, Balasaheb quit the Congress, once again, and joined the Shiv Sena to become a union minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet. His son Radhakrishna too joined the Shiv Sena and was made a minister in the state cabinet while the Shiv Sena-BJP formed the government until 1999. Not hesitant to jump the ship when in distress, the father-son duo returned to the Congress when it won the 1999 elections in the state.


Radhakrishna stayed with the Congress until 2019 but switched over to the BJP in 2019 when it was apparent that the party was to get another tenure in power. His son, Sujay, a doctor by education, also joined the saffron party and won the Parliamentary elections that year.


The women of the family are also active in the local politics and social activities of the region. Radhakrishna’s wife Shalini has been a member of the Zilla Parishad in Ahmednagar.


Another young woman of the family, Nila who is Radhakrishna’s niece is actively involved in politics, but thousands of miles away from Ahmednagar. Half Swedish by birth, she joined the  Green Party in Sweden and was appointed an advisor to the prime minister’s office for the first time in February 2016.


The family’s clout could not ensure a win for Sujay in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections which he lost to the NCP-SP’s Nilesh Lanke. The fourth generation of the family to be involved in public life, Sujay is now set to face Lanke’s wife in the upcoming assembly elections.

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