Swapna Das and Hosenur Begum come from different faiths. But that has not mattered in their friendship, because their similarities are far greater.
Swapna Das and Hosenur Begum come from different faiths. But that has not mattered in their friendship, because their similarities are far greater. A few years back, Hosenur’s husband died of AIDS. Soon after, Hosenur found out she had the disease.
Swapna’s son, Tapan, is HIV+. He got it from a blood transfusion while being treated for Thalassemia. This was too much to bear for Swapna’s husband, and he died of shock a few months later. And that’s when Swapna’s troubles began. When his school found out that Tapan had the disease, he was expelled. Relatives stopped visiting their house. They weren’t allowed to participate in social functions and barred from offering puja at community pandals.
Hosenur’s story is much the same. People of the area tried to stop her from burying her husband at the local burial ground. “People said that if my husband is buried there, the soil will get infected. However, by the grace of Allah and with help from the local administration, somehow I managed to do that. After that, I was totally secluded. I was not allowed to attend community functions and even during Ramzan, I used to break my fast alone,” Begum said.
A few years back, Swapna and Hosenur’s paths crossed at the HIV-AIDS clinic at the Calcutta Medical College & Hospital. Swapna had gone for her son’s treatment and Hosenur for her own. And that’s where they got talking.
What began as a chance meeting has grown into a deep friendship. Though the deadly AIDS almost ruined their lives, it also brought them together. Now, the two have decided to stay together for the rest of their lives and share each other’s joys and sorrows. Swapna’s son Tapan is happy that he has another mother-like figure to spoil him.
The new ‘family’ is getting help from a few voluntary organisations working in the field of HIV-AIDS. They are helping build a new home for the trio. And Swapna and Hosenur have taken up part-time work to run their home.
For Swapna, meeting Hosenur has been a blessing from God. For Hosenur, Swapna and Tapan are family. “In Swapna I have found a companion who will never look down on me because of my disease. Now, I am as much a mother to Tapan as Swapna is,” Begum said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}