'People-work'

In the smoking room at the Delhi T3 this morning, I spot a man carrying a dark blue green bag, big enough to be small and comfortable. The man lit up after fiddling through the bag for all the tools needed for the vice. A laptop and other such items peeped thru in the process. I say, involuntarily, and against all better judgement, 'That is a lovely bag there!'. A confident thank you came back, and a smile as he patted the bag with obvious pride. 'Where did you get it from?' I persisted, hoping he would mention a Lajpat Nagar shop. 'Germany. Not too big, not too small, just right - has been with me for the past 5 years' I nod in hitherto unknown longing and appreciation. I did not take a photo of the bag because that would have drooled away my effort at seeming nonchalant about it all. I blame this uncharacteristic encounter on the impact that a friend's fetish for collecting bags has had on me in recent months - my delicate annoyance with it, ...

Waiting to be billed as this boy is looking for 'cabbage' on his price list after checking with me what 'bannd-gobi' is called in English. My offer to help was politely turned down. With a sheepish, almost apologetic smile, he said "Abhi naya aaya hoon. Khud karoonga toh seekh jaaunga."

The HIV response in India finds itself at a crossroad – a choice between consolidating gains and frittering them away into a resurgence of the epidemic. The struggle began when policy makers chose to ignore evidence and voices from the ground and almost announced the end of AIDS in India. Riding on the trend of fewer new HIV infections and disregarding all feedback from civil society frontline workers, the fourth phase of the government’s National AIDS Control Programme – NACP 4 – stated that the AIDS response will be integrated within the health system of India by the time the programme ends in 2017. By inference, a dedicated AIDS programme was no longer needed; and hence a fifth phase of the AIDS programme – NACP 5 – would be ruled out. Not only does NACP 4 assume and affirm that it will achieve its results, but it goes a step further to declare that the entire government health system will thereafter be in complete readiness to deliver HIV prevention and care services. Ana...