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"I have come here because I want to get married. I am HIV positive," says Rasik Bhai, a 31-year-old diamond polisher. "My income is 3,000 rupees,"
"I am married myself. A few months after my marriage I found out I was HIV positive.
I just wanted a husband who can understand me - and who can provide for three square meals a day
"I have been living happily with my husband all these years - without problems, so why can't these people get married?"
Nimisha Patel
"I was not very keen for marriage. There was pressure from home," he said.
"I saw my wife on several occasions at the support group meetings. I never thought she would marry me.
"Daksha who runs a marriage bureau in Gujrat asked me if I wanted to marry - but I repeatedly refused.
"Then last November - during the festival of Navratri - we used to meet in the evenings. Then I decided to get married."
"Earlier my weight had gone down considerably, now my health has improved."
Kamlesh's wife, Nimisha had been married previously. Her former husband abandoned her after she tested positive for HIV during her pregnancy.
She says she had a harrowing time in her earlier marriage.
She learnt about the marriage bureau from a doctor who had been treating her.
"I had read about this organization which worked with HIV positive people and ran a marriage bureau.
"I had come to find out more about the bureau - for the purpose of marriage only," says Nimisha.
"I did not want a very handsome person, or a very rich person.
"I just wanted a husband who can understand me - and who can provide for three square meals a day." From the broad smile on her face, it is not difficult to gauge she has found that man.
More men
The fledgling bureau has a problem though.
The bride-seekers out-number bridegroom-seekers almost ten to one.
Of the 70 people presently registered with the bureau, only eight are women.
In India, few women can afford to come in the open about their HIV status, because of the stigma attached to Aids.
Daksha is full of praise for the women who have come forward and registered with the bureau.
Indian authorities draw solace from the fact that India is still behind South Africa as the country with the largest population of HIV positive people.
A lot of NGOs, however, see India as an Aids ticking time bomb.
As the authorities and NGOs quibble over Aids statistics, and the ways and means to combat the proliferation of the dreaded virus, both agree that initiatives such as the marriage bureau for people living with HIV are a step in the right direction.
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