AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Indian matchmakers are helping HIV/ AIDS sufferers find partners, advertising in the matrimonial columns of weekend newspapers and arranging weddings.
Matchmakers write the ads, keep the identities of would-be brides and grooms secret and arrange counseling for couples facing the rest of their lives together with a killer disease, says H. Raj, who runs a wedding bureau in the commercial capital of Gujarat state, Ahmedabad.
"It was tough taking care of my young daughter after I lost my husband from AIDS," says a 35-year-old kindergarten teacher."Because of my financial and emotional needs, I wanted to find a partner ... who was HIV positive like me. For us, marriage is about accepting the truth and living well, even with a killer disease."
She married a man she found through the matrimonial columns, in a simple ceremony at her parents’ home. Most marriages in India are still arranged, though generally with the consent of the bride and groom, and newspapers are full of such ads.
