Kaushalya's one-woman fight against AIDS

[Guest guest]

Kaushalya's one-woman fight against AIDS

HARNEET SINGH

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2002 3:05:11 AM ]

CHANDIGARH: Confident, unassuming and shy are the adjectives that

best describe 27-year-old Kaushalya. But beneath this veneer is a

steel- hard and unbreakable spirit. This gutsy lady from Namakal in

Chennai is a true survivor.

An HIV positive patient, she has the guts to say this to death: " You

do what you have to. I am going to live. " Kaushalya has not only come

out in the open about her condition, she's also heading a support

group for women so that they are aware of their rights and know all

about AIDS.

President of Positive Women Network in Chennai that she started in

1998 with 18 women, Kaushalya is now working with 90 women, no mean

achievement this... what with the stigma attached to the ailment.

Providing belief to the popular adage, `still waters run deep'

Kaushalya narrates her own story, " it was in 1995 that I came to know

that I was suffering from HIV/AIDS. I got the virus through my

husband who died within three months of our marriage. I didn't know

then that he had AIDS and thus my initial reaction was of denial and

anger. " It took her time to come out of her denial and when she did,

she decided to fight at her own level so that women like her who

usually get the virus unknowingly can become aware of the

disease, " Once I decided to fight, I made a conscious decision that

my fight would not remain restricted to only me but would include all

the women so that we can voice issues as a united force not just as

an individual.

That's how I started the Positive Women Network " adds Kaushalya. The

courage to go public with her illness came from within her and from

the support of her maternal uncle " When I was first diagnosed with

AIDS I just knew that it was a killer disease. That's all. Even if my

friends used to express their support and solidarity with me, I used

to shun them believing that the virus was contagious.

It was my maternal uncle who educated me about the disease after

which I decided to discard all my inhibitions and started giving my

story in local papers and television. " Ironically although she

decided to shift base from Namakal near Salem to Chennai believing

that the acceptance of the disease would be more in the urban city,

Kaushalya found the reality to be just the opposite, " The acceptance

level in Namakal was much more than Chennai.

Although people were not much aware of AIDS, they were indeed more

concerned about it whereas in Chennai, a HIV positive woman was burnt

alive. "

This happening proved to be a major set back for Kaushalya who also

went underground only to resurface a year later because of that

steely resolve of hers. Currently on combination drugs, Kaushalya is

fighting the disease valiantly even though her doctors had lost all

hope for her survival.

A year-and-a-half back when they had as good as declared her gone,

she bounced back courtesy her mental make-up, " Mental treatment is

the best treatment and I am alive for my movement and I have decided

to really live till I don't die, " says Kaushalya. Amen!

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