Journalism of Courage
One popular Ronan Keating song talks about life and its most beautiful aspect Whenever one door closes,I hope one more opens. Life had always thrown closed doors at these individuals,but sheer will power and grit have made them convert each of these closed doors into open opportunities. While the world is full of tales of tough fighters,this bunch of survivors have not only made the world a lot more colourful for themselves,but have also in turn brightened another life.
In a display of beautiful companionship and togetherness,the city will celebrate today the spirit of the people who are HIV positive but still lead perfectly balanced lives,deftly switching between work and the personal. It is no longer uncommon to see organsiations working specifically for alliances and marriages between people who have AIDS and helping them lead normal lives. Rajesh Purohit,who heads the Swastik Marriage Bureau,says,We have over 350 people registered with us from all over the country and in our five years of existence,we have had seven marriages through our bureau. The services are offered free of cost,but the membership is lopsided in favour of men here.
The fight for the rights of the AIDS victims has been a long one,but the efforts are slowly bearing fruit. Social acceptability and awareness has risen and the stigma has weakened. But activists still feel that there is a long way to go. Rajendra Bhavalkar,who heads the Akshada Marriage Bureau,says,We started this three years ago and in this period,we have successfully carried out over 25 weddings,of which four happened this year alone,in the month of January. While all those registered are from Pune and nearby areas,the number of weddings have been a positive sign. These couples not only need a very good understanding of each other,but they also need to cope with their environment. Which is why we offer post marriage counseling too. We can feel a social shift coming about,but it is restricted to certain social strata. It needs to disseminate more. These people need more support.
Highlighting the challenges that such couples go through,Urvashi Roy (name changed),who works with the jewelery sector and got married through an online portal in 2009,says,I obviously had a lot of doubts in my mind before registering at the marriage bureau. I wondered if my husband would understand my point of view. We wanted to live normally. Zindagi positively jeena hain. It took me four years to sum up the courage to face up to this. Now,after one and half years of marriage,I feel happy to say that I made the right decision. There will be ups and downs in any relationship.
Online portals that have maintained confidentiality of their members have helped the cause a lot. Anil Valiv,owner of Positive Saathi,says,I started the website in 2007 and there have been 35- 40 HIV+ marriages since. Nearly 2,000 people are registered with my site and of them 150 are from Pune itself. Many have registered from abroad too.
