Abraham is a human being, not simply a patient

[Guest guest]

I have met Abraham, however, I do not know him as well as I knew his

predecessor Ashok Pillai. Both men, and all their colleagues are inspiring

and extraordinary spirits. When I last saw the two of them, and Ashok was

looking weak and ill, I was struck by the tenderness tempered with strength

with which Abraham supported Ashok. This is true heorism, perhaps not

recognised by the violent amongst us, but always recognised by the true sages.

Anyone who met either man could not think of them simply as " patients " .

Perhaps to a doctor, that is what they may be, but then we are all patients

in many health professionals eyes. At least at some time or other.

But Abraham is a human being, not simply a patient or a statistic, or an

early booking for a funeral.

Even more, it might surprise some people, given the larger amount of activism

around HIV in the West, that Indian activists can inspire some of us in the

more developed countries. But they have, and sometimes in ways which cuts

through all the rhetoric, hyperbole and oratory of much better publicised

leaders.

Abraham, as President of INP+, has not been in the chair for very long. His

powers of honest persuasion will develop, as evidenced in this article. But I

have almost never been more inspired in my life as I have been by one simple

statement made by Ashok Pillai in response to his own HIV+ status. He said

something like " I do not want to die every day of my life, but to live every

day of my life. " Those are not the words of a patient. They are the words of

a true human being. They are words some of the healthiest of us, including

those without any identifiable diseases whatsoever, should take to heart.

Quentin, Sydney, Australia

E-mail: <vicente@...>

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