Red Ribbon Loops

When are we gonna grow up??? No seriously, it quite simply ceases to be funny anymore.
Dec 1st. World AIDS Day. A day, set aside to spread awareness about a disease, which is, quite effectively wiping out entire populations, and doing it nice and slow, so that not many realize it. So everyone thinks its important to disillusion people who still think that AIDS is something that drug addicts and prostitutes n those scum of earth who get into all sorts of “immoral activities” get. So religiously, everyone who mattered, pinned a red ribbon on his or her shirt to express solidarity with the noble cause.
I wore one too. Our college distributed them at the gates. That was not all. There were talks, seminars, documentaries. Placards all around campus that told u how AIDS can and cannot spread. There were the usual blood transfusion will, n shaking hands won’t deal, but one of them proclaimed, “Multiple-partner sex causes AIDS”. Huh? Excuse me? All due respect for the people who put in all the effort to put in those banners, but don’t u really think its kinda time that we finish with the preaching and tackle the problem like mature adults do? If sex with multiple partners causes AIDS, then hell, Idon’t see much hope for the future of the world. I dunno if they wrote that intentionally or outta simple misinformation, but this is exactly the kinda attitude that is the root cause of all the stigmatization that AIDS n HIV patients have to deal with..
In India sex, is a four letter word, sexuality, is something we don’t discuss in polite company, and pre-marital sex is something that should be declared criminal.
Recently Isaw an article being put up in our coll notice board, from B’lore Times, bout condom vending machines that were put up in the JNU campus. For one glorious moment I thought that our coll’s actually decided to shed its holier-than-thou attitude on such issues (who am I kiddin, on every issue), but no! My bubble burst wen I read the last para, which was highlighted to show the real cause of its finding a place there- a comment by a familiar name, which read “College is not the time for such things”. I’ve all the respect for the person, she’s a great teacher, n an awesome lady, but seriously??? If they just take a quickie scan around coll, they’ll probably realize that a considerable number are not single, n half are not exactly virgins (there! I said the word. Now are they gonna sue me for defamation next?). Its pretty evident that students today are getting a completely different kind of education in college (n yes schools too), while teachers are deliberately closing their eyes to it.
Wat we really need is to do away with taking the high moral ground, and open up to a lot. The birds n bees story may work wen we re 3, but phuleese do not insult a 17 year old’s intelligence with that. Stop saying “multiple partners will land u in trouble”, no one will listen. Tell them unprotected sex with some guy/gal whose face u wont remember the next morn is gonna get ur immune system fucked(yes, i used the dreaded f word),they'll make sure they use protection. Wen curious teens learn that A+B can sometimes make C, they’ll think before.
Sex really does determine the amount of freedom u’ll ever have in ur life. Bring it out of the closets, or backs or cars parked on lonely roads. N there will a fewer porn mags stacked away under the sink, n people wont go to the chemist n guiltily ask for “woh hai na, woh”. U’ll free a lot of minds, n in the process save a lot of lives.
Life doesn’t end with AIDS. But it sure becomes a tough battle. Those addicted can perhaps do without the stigma. But I don’t think they re looking for sympathy. They need understanding, n solidarity. And that is what the red ribbon is all about.
Ms. Know-it-all said: “What we need is actually to learn from our cultural heritage. We just need to know the right books to refer…kama sutra anyone? ; )