A Serious Affair. A filim about HIV discrimination in Mumbai University

[Guest guest]

Ref: Ponamma's death... is it blowin in the wind?

It is obvious that NGOs and the government have a lot of work to alter

people's perceptions towards people with AIDS. This is a cycle that the

US and other developed countries went through. Changing people's

attitudes is very difficult. This was seen when making people wear a

condom while having sex.

I remember twenty years back when a MLA well known in Bombay gay circles

contracted AIDS. He was shunned by family and the hospitals would not

accept him as a patient. He died a lonely death in Bombay. Things have

changed, but it will take a long time before PWAs are not discriminated

against.

Films and theater are an excellent vehicle to get people to come to terms

with uncomfortable truths such as their biases towards people who are

different from them.

I recently produced and directed a 15 minute film called " A Serious

Affair " about AIDS discrimination on a Bombay University campus. The

film is available on DVD if anyone would like to screen it.

Thanks

Kim Singh

Director

Asian AIDS Action

Vashi, Bombay

Tel: 982 060 1580

E-mail: <kimsingh@...>