Wedding Woes

Subhsagoon.com,another matrimonial portal for HIV positive people which was launched about a year ago,has about 40 registered profiles. So far,it has not been able to arrange a single match. “I launched this website after witnessing the trouble my HIV positive friend had to go through to find a life prtner. I realized that he,like most of us,has every right to demand basic things from life. However,these things are denied to them simply because of our conservative society. It’s high time we recognized their needs,” says Pune-based software engineer,Rahul Shedge.

Shedge concedes that his website has not really taken off. “Maybe I didn’t publicise it properly. Maybe the society is not prepared for such a website,but I will not give up hope,” he says.

Marriage may not be a primary concern in a country which is still struggling to provide basic healthcare to HIV positive people,but it plays an important role in “normalizing” situation for them. “Most of us don’t know the difference between HIV positive and AIDS. We are led to believe that HIV positive people are sick people who can’t really think about marriage. Which in turn influences HIV positive people who are discouraged from leading a normal life,” says Valiv.

Yet,both Shedge and Valiv believe are hopeful about the future. “Our services are free. We will support HIV positive people in every possible manner to find a suitable partner. Moreover,there seems to be a lot more awareness about the pandemic in the society today than it was even a few years back. With a proper publicity campaign we will surely manage to bring thousands of lonely hearts together,” says Valiv.