AIDS education on celluloid

kolkata: jahnavi is a vivacious 25-year-old assamese girl. she has this remarkable quality of lifting the spirits of even the most depressed person. her smile is infectious, she starts giggling uncontrollably when you ask her about her idol, amitabh bachchan. but she also has aids. jahnavi was barely out of her teens when she was married off to a guwahati-based businessman.she was young, beautiful and had stars in her eyes. within two years she lost her baby girl and husband in quick succession to aids. "my in-laws threw me out when they found out i had aids," says jahnavi, her eyes welling up with tears. jahnavi's family and friends rallied behind her and provided her the will to continue fighting. most aids patients are very secretive about their disease. they are scared to reveal it for fear of social ostracism, feels jahnavi. what was really sad is that even educated people had very little awareness about this disease. jahnavi is all set to feature in a 27- minute documentary on aids awareness. the documentary, which is being produced by saswati datta of the sonata foundation, is the real life story of jahnavi. "it serves to educate people about aids." "since the person compering the documentary is hiv-positive herself, it will strike an emotional chord with all aids patients," hopes datta. it was pranay datta , secretary of the sonata foundation, who first met jahnavi at an aids seminar being held at arunachal pradesh. "i was completely mesmerised by jahnavi's awareness about the disease, and her zest for life," confesses pranay. "what impressed me the most was the girl's courage to face her disease head on, he adds. jahnavi is a social worker with the assam state aids control organisation, and travels throughout the country attending seminars and spreading awareness about this killer disease. "i share my life's experiences with the audience, and tell them about the precautions to be taken and ask them not be scared," says jahnavi. saswati hopes that jahnavi's story will motivate other aids patients to come out in the open and face this disease with dignity.