Gratitude diaries 31

Today I read the title of an article that someone posted on Facebook- it was about a transgender woman getting legally married- and I clicked like. Had I not worked in the field of HIV, I may not have done that. The best part about working in the field of HIV/AIDS was that I met so many kinds of people I would have never met otherwise. From the over-the-top transgender Lakshmi, to the HIV-positive Roma, to the feisty sex-worker Anu to my one gay friend, Shaleen. I have always felt kinship with any group that is marginalised and discriminated. I suppose that this is both personal and a community level feeling- on the personal front, because of my mother's mental illness and the community front- on account of being a Dalit. It was good for me to know how trivial my issues were compared to these brave men, women, or transgenders- who laid themselves open to public contempt and legal punishment to fight for others in their community. They remind me of Ambedkar. I really recommend that people should make an active effort to meet people who are not like them, who are as different from them as possible. Its only then that we realise that these are human beings just like us and that we can always find some common ground with them. Ultimately, there is more that unites people than divides them. Thank you, the field of HIV, for demonstrating this to me. My work in this field has enriched my life and I am really grateful to all the brave people that I met, who are continuing to fight the battles- on personal and on private fronts. God bless you.