Rohini Pawar

A vocal woman-rights activist in a conservative society in a Pune village, Rohini is the feminist icon everyone, everywhere should look up to. For the longest time, Rohini Pawar, from Walhe, Pune, dreamed of becoming a doctor, but these dreams were curtailed when she was married at 15. “I felt all my dreams would crash and end there,” she says. “I was scared, everything was different. I suddenly found myself living away from home, burdened with responsibilities,” she says.  “I wanted to make sure that other girls didn’t have to face the same problems.” After slowly gaining financial independence by…

28 January 2015 : Karnalwadi, Maharashtra

Whether HIV/AIDS causes someone’s death isn’t clear, but without treatment, it certainly can be. Kailash Borke, who expired few days after being diagnosed, didn’t have any treatment. What’s worse is that HIV, though not contagious by casual contact, is sexually transmissible. Borke’s wife — only earning member of the family — is now HIV positive. In Karnalwadi, where the spread of misconceptions is easier than the virus of HIV, Usha Borke can’t find any work to support the family or for her treatment.

Community Correspondent Rohini Pawar reports on how rumours about HIV have left Usha Borke in utter despair.