118) Living with Aids -3

Pradeep once said,” You must meet Chandra and she is really special”.

I said,” Sure, why not?”

Pradeep explained,” She is from the much maligned truckers community and as you are aware a HIV high risk group”.

We invited Chandra for a small talk before Madras Metropolitan Round table gathering and this was what she said:
Ever since contracting HIV my whole life has changed. I was married in 1997 to Velan. It was arranged by my parents. My life was very happy for the first six months. My son was born in 1998 and my husband busy looking after his lorry business.

But in 2001, my husband started to get fevers at frequent intervals. I did not know anything about HIV at the time but by 2002 he was bedridden and that was when he tested positive for the virus.

He used to go off in his truck. He could have gone somewhere and caught it that way, I suppose. Then I went for tests and discovered I had it too. I am not able to say how I feel about him. This only happened to me because I got married. It is our fate that this should happen and it's not going to change.

When I was diagnosed I was advised to see local doctors and get help. I saw many doctors. All of them said that I should boil the water and drink and eat lots of greens.

No doctor explained anything. They talked to us in a raised voice. I felt that they spoke without any respect.

Chandra died in July 2002 and I was driven out by my mother-in-law, with my son. Fortunately my parents were kind enough to allow me to live with them again.
I began to realize that I should work and earn a proper living... that I had an illness and that I also had a family to consider, and that I would need a certain strength of mind to protect both myself and my family.

I joined a computer class and joined an organization that works to create awareness about HIV.

No person living with HIV should die because of lack of information, like my husband.

I now feel confident enough within myself to be able to counsel many other people”.
They were about 60 of us gathered at Park Sheraton and we gave her a standing ovation. Later next week, we collected over Rs.3 lacs for a condom vending machine for a district headquarter in TN.