It was an arranged marriage. The boy was an engineer with a well-paying job in Pune. And she was a sociology graduate from Mumbai - all of 23.
And they would have lived happily ever after. Only fate had other plans. A year later, when Lalita Ahire was pregnant, she tested positive for HIV.
"At that time [in 1993] my knowledge of HIV/AIDS was limited to an awareness ad featuring Shabana Azmi where she hugs an HIV+ child and says 'Choone se pyar badta hai (touch spreads love, not Aids)'," said Lalita. "Little did I know that I would have to learn everything about the disease first-hand," she said bitterly.
From then on, her woes increased. Her husband, from whom she contracted the virus, died three years later, leaving her to fend for herself and her young son, Shyam, who was also diagnosed with HIV. "We faced a lot of discrimination from everyone,” recalled Lalita. It didn't end there.
Lalita and Shyam were thrown out of the house by her in-laws. With no money to support herself, Lalita returned to her parents' house in Mumbai broken-hearted.
"Fortunately, my parents had the heart to accept me," said Lalita, who started working with a local NGO. "But during the course of my work, I came across so many widowed women from the lower socio-economic group, who shared my story, that I felt moved to do something about it," said Lalita.
A few years later Lalita met and fell in love with Gopal, 31, who had also been diagnosed with HIV, and was working as a counsellor. The couple tied the knot in 2004.
Today, 35-year-old Lalita runs a Pune-based NGO, Soudamini Network for Women and Children, which supports 2,385 members and 585 children in Pune. "All the seven trustees are HIV+ women. So we understand their problems," said the woman who is the founder-member and president of the NGO.
"I wanted to ensure that what happened to me would not happen to other women,”said Lalita.
Lalita's son Shyam is now 12, and studies in Std V. "I haven't told him about his status. But have taught him personal hygiene and staying healthy," said the doting mother.
"People gave me three months to live. But 13 years later, I am still alive and healthy. And so is my son," said Lalita. "I know I am not going to die just because I am HIV+. That is why I dare to dream," said Lalita.
s_deepa@dnaindia.net
