>AIDS SUTRA – untold stories from india

fiction

by admin | on June 23rd, 2011 | 0 comments

Also available as : “Journey into the night”
Publication : Bill and Melinda Gates foundation
Authors : 16 ( including William Darlymple , Shobha De , Salman Rushdie , Vikram Seth and many others .)

The book tells 16 stories about aids in our own country . The writers have outdone themselves . Each one of them takes us into the darkest , deepest corners of the world where we ,the ‘civilized’ people would think twice before entering .

Dr.Toku’s fight for a respectable life and now he rises for the entire aids community . Salman Rushdie (surprisingly plain and to-the-point )takes us into the life of the hijra community and brings out the softer , vulnerable image ( rather than the preconceived crude one that we harbour ) .

Jaspreet Singh talks about the kids with aids . How they are surviving and fighting something that even adults shiver to think about .

Shobha De ( as candid as ever …but totally masala free ) talks about how her driver got aids and her own apprehensions and the feelings of hypocrisy that traveled through her .

Nalini Jones emphasizes the importance of love in such tough times ,and how aids afflicted couples walk hand in hand and support each other !

Kiran Desai talks about the life of sex workers in South India . A group struggling to gain respect and dignity .

Sunil Gangopadhyay takes us into the lanes of Sonagachchi . Where the sex workers have now joined hands and are making a place for themselves and a future for their kids .

Siddartha Deb talks about Manipur …where youngsters are busy fighting poverty and drug addiction . And succeeding , even though slowly .

William Dalrymple talks about the dev-dasis and their neglect and exploitation .

Amit chaudhari talks to doctors facing the monster of the disease everyday .

Vikram Seth’s heart touching poem on aids …

And Aman Sethi travels through the network of trucks , highways , dhabas and sex workers ..

Sonia Felario talks about the inhuman police …

Mukul Kesvan about the ridiculed , exploited and tortured gay community .

CS Lakshmi deals with the neglect of women for centuries …

And Siddartha Sanghvi talks about a spirited young man who crushes slowly under the disease .

All In all , not a book to be read before you sleep . But it will open your eyes and evoke empathy , concern and respect for those afflicted with this disease .

Pick it up …by the time you finish it ….. You’ll be a changed human being