On the occasion of World AIDS Day today (Dec.1) and to mark 20 years of Asha Kirana Charitable Trust which has been providing counselling services, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS since 1997, here we publish a  special write-up by Sujata Rajpal on one of the AIDS patients of Asha Kirana Charitable Hospital in Mysuru, to show how people can live normal life with AIDS. Thanks to Dr. S.N. Mothi, Board Trustee Member of Asha Kirana, and his Trust that has given a ray of hope to the patients and has made an impact in their lives by giving them a purpose to live without inferiority complex. —Ed

I was diagnosed with HIV when I had been married for only six months. My husband was HIV positive so I also got infected. It was a shock; I belonged to a cultured family, I could never imagine that such a thing could happen to me. I had to deal with the dual shock of being infected with the disease and my husband’s illness. His family shunted us out from their lives. His parents wanted him to die.

I pledged my house and sold whatever jewellery I had to arrange money for my husband’s treatment. In spite of my best efforts, I couldn’t save him. I became a widow just after a year of marriage; my sufferings had just begun. I had to now cope with the bigger challenge of dealing with my own HIV status. I couldn’t even get a house on rent. My in-laws turned their back towards me. I had no money.

Then someone told me about a counselling session for AIDS patients in Bengaluru. I was reluctant to go as I had always believed that only sex workers get AIDS but I was surprised to know that many of the HIV infected women were housewives with a single partner. That session changed my life. The speaker at the counselling session spoke openly about his HIV status. He had been living with AIDS for the past 16 years. He encouraged me to speak to help other people.  It was at that forum that I learnt about Asha Kirana Charitable Hospital in Mysuru.

I decided to rewrite my own life story and become a peer counsellor for people infected with AIDS. Today I feel proud that I am a role model for many. It has been 13 years since I started working as a peer counsellor. So far, I have helped 4,000 such people. They are able to relate to me because I have seen it all — the sufferings, the stigma, the discrimination. It gives me immense happiness that I am able to change someone’s life. Counselling is the key in dealing with this fatal disease. In recognition of my work, I was conferred Best Peer Counsellor State Award.

Today I am the voice of voiceless people. I am also the first person to go public about my HIV status and give interviews to TV channels. I also prepared a list of orphans and vulnerable children in Mysuru district and presented it to the government to help in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of disease.

I live by the motto ‘Death is confirmed, Love is mountain, Service is eternal.’

[As told to this writer by Shanthi (name changed), Peer Counsellor for AIDS patients]