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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.”

The Musk Mutiny

Elon Musk has broken up with President Trump to form a political party of his own. But can Silicon Valley populism fix Washington’s dysfunction or worsen it?

The world’s richest man has declared political independence. Elon Musk, no stranger to provocation or reinvention, announced the formation of the ‘America Party’ after ending his brief but high-profile association with the Trump administration. The fallout came swiftly after President Donald Trump signed into law a sweeping spending and tax bill that Musk had condemned as “insane and destructive.”


For months, their political courtship had held Washington in thrall. Musk, appointed head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) - a typically irreverent acronym in the Muskian mould - was tasked with slashing federal bureaucracy and pushing tech-forward reforms. But the White House’s July 4 bill, a firework display of largesse, marked the end. Musk launched an online poll on Independence Day asking whether he should start a new political party. By the next morning, with two-thirds of respondents saying yes, he declared the America Party born.


History is strewn with wealthy men who tried to upend American politics. H. Ross Perot’s 1992 Reform Party bid garnered 19 percent of the vote, proving that outsider candidates could resonate with an electorate jaded by partisanship. Theodore Roosevelt, after his falling out with the Republican machine in 1912, founded the Progressive ‘Bull Moose’ Party, splitting the conservative vote and handing the White House to Woodrow Wilson. Like Roosevelt, Musk now seems set on blitzing the political centre from both flanks.


But unlike Roosevelt or Perot, Musk commands a cult-like following online and sits atop a vast corporate empire spanning electric vehicles, spaceflight, and artificial intelligence. Where past third-party efforts faltered for want of media oxygen and money, Musk suffers no such disadvantage. He is the message, the megaphone and the moneybag all in one.


Musk’s critique echoes those of disillusioned centrists and radical populists alike that the Democrats and Republicans, despite their trench warfare over cultural issues, often collude in matters of spending, war and lobbying. The uniparty, in Musk’s telling, is as entrenched as the Spartan phalanx - invincible until Epaminondas of Thebes shattered it at Leuctra in 371 BC by deploying an unorthodox wedge formation. Musk promises to do the same with a concentrated assault on America’s political duopoly.


His analogy may flatter his ambitions. Yet the underlying strategy of targeting key Senate and House races with high-tech campaigns and precision funding is not without precedent. The Tea Party movement and Bernie Sanders’ insurgency both showed how disciplined, donor-powered swarms could unsettle incumbents. Musk, with his blend of fiscal conservatism, techno-optimism and libertarian instinct, hopes to do both parties equal harm. He has already outlined a centrist plank of reducing national debt, modernising the military and investing in artificial intelligence.


Still, voters may wonder whether the America Party is more flash than foundation. A party born from a Twitter poll risks resembling a vanity project more than a serious vehicle for reform. American history is rife with such shooting stars. Andrew Yang’s Forward Party promised to transcend tribalism but failed to attract meaningful traction. Kanye West’s brief presidential flirtation in 2020 was even less substantive. If Musk wants to be more than a billionaire gadfly, he will need institutional muscle and ballot access in 50 states.


The electoral college and single-member districts are designed to favour two parties. Even if Musk's party gains traction, it may end up kingmaking rather than governing, as Perot and Roosevelt once did. Or worse, it could splinter the vote enough to hand power to whichever side Musk disdains more.


For now, the America Party remains a concept more than a coalition. But its emergence underscores the volatility of the current moment. In an age where institutions are mistrusted and platforms are digital, a wealthy and wired man like Elon Musk can redraw the map faster than the old gatekeepers can respond.

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