Thanks to Pune’s youngsters, the AIDS campaign has moved beyond slums and red-light areas to the streets, multiplexes and restaurants
It’s a given for parents to object to attires of their college-going kids. But the Sangitianis definitely seemed to have a point when they demanded to know why their daughter Shweta was going out donning a T-shirt that said “HIV Positive”.

In another part of Pune, similar shock waves were being emitted from a group of youngsters who formed a part of the crowd waiting outside a movie hall at a swanky multiplex. In a loud and crystal-clear voice, one of the guys had just informed his friends that he’d discovered he’s HIV positive and was now giving details about how he contracted the virus.

And in the city’s upmarket Koregaon Park area, a family was debating over whether to sit down for a meal at a table where the coasters read “Be HIV Positive…about educating yourself and others about HIV and AIDS’’ or then “Sex workers protect themselves, why don’t you?” To add to their dilemma, a waiter came over and handed them a brochure that listed th e FAQs about AIDS.

If it’s in-your-face, it’s because that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. A clutch of collegians in the student city of Pune have decided that it’s time people learnt to talk openly about AIDS and HIV. They have also learnt that since lectures are antediluvian and nothing succeeds like shock when you want some undivided attention, they need to redefine the rules about spreading the good word.

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