Updated on Monday, December 01, 2008, 00:00 IST

Devika Chhibber

Love transcends all boundaries. It is love, which bring two strangers together. It helps in better understanding between friends. It is the only way to show and express human emotions. A mere expression and true gesture of love can make anybody yours. However, today this word is losing its force and sex is gaining momentum. Sex – though, an essential aspect of anybody’s life – is incomplete without love. So let us join hands and share the feeling of love on AIDS Day, as December 1 is celebrated world wide as World AIDS Day.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome i.e. (AIDS or Aids) happens due to damage to the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. I would like to highlight the human side of AIDS through this short story —

Last year while visiting my aunt in Bhopal, I met a man in the local bus who was very handsome, attractive and dynamic. After exchanging glances, I asked him about his professional life. To my surprise, he was a police officer. A happily married man he seemed to be full of zest for life. Sometime later, I heard him telling his wife that he has taken all his medicines. Curious, I asked him if he was well. Nothing much, he said, he just had AIDS. I got the shock of my life. I just could not believe that he was suffering from the so-called deadly disease, which we have studied in our textbooks. Nevertheless, it was true.

The incident was a revelation for me. I had a poor opinion for such people but after meeting this man, I started looking at the perspective more broadly. I remembered some slogans used in advertisements like ‘Pyar chune se failta hai na ki aids’.

We must realize that there are people who are living with this disease as if nothing has changed. For them it has become their normal routine. They know their precautions, they know that have to live with it and they live daringly. What matters to them most is the care and affection of the world surrounding them. What helps them in facing their critical situation is the gentle touch of their dear ones. What helps them in surviving through the problems of life is our love.

So let us stand united on this day and vow to show love and affection to all AIDS sufferers and make this world a better place for them to live in.