Untold stories: Indian writers unite in aid of AIDS

UNFORGETTABLE: AIDS Sutra is an anthology that would haunt one long after it's been tucked away.

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Mumbai: Sixteen writers travel down the AIDS route in India to meet the faces behind the specter that is AIDS. Their reports form AIDS Sutra, a project initiated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Though the stories that are usually told concerning AIDS in India convey their high risk status which often subject to scrutiny by researchers. But what comes together in AIDS Sutra are personal stories of the most vulnerable targets for the virus.

Among the 16 writers is Salman Rushdie who meets the eunuch community in Mumbai, he travels with them to their strongholds in the distant suburbs.

Writer Aman Sethi goes on the road with truck drivers — who are often regarded as the conduit for the virus — between high risk groups like sex workers and the general population.

Author Kiran Desai travels to coastal Andhra Pradesh where sex workers trace their lineage to the mythical dancers of Indian folklore. She finds that love and friendship cling on in communities, marked by fragmentation and betrayal.

For long, AIDS has been seen by most as a disease affecting the other and it is in these writers' journeys and their attempt to put a face to the disease that brings home the urgency of the epidemic.

AIDS Sutra is a book full of essays that would haunt one long after it's been tucked away.