Writers Participate in Gates Foundation Initiative Aimed at Promoting Dialogue About HIV/AIDS in India
A group of Indian writers is participating in an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that aims to promote public dialogue about HIV/AIDS in the country and abroad, the Hindustan Times reports. According to the Times, 15 writers will visit communities and families affected by the disease to explore different aspects of India's epidemic.
Parmeshwar Godrej, who is closely involved with the project, said the authors' works will be similar to news magazine articles and compiled together. The anthology will be published in August with a foreword by Indian writer Amartya Sen. Authors participating in the project are Salman Rushdie, William Dalrymple, Nalini Jones, Vikram Seth, Kiran Desai, Amit Chaudhuri, Siddhartha Deb, Nikita Lalwani, Sonia Faleiro, Shobhaa De, Jaspreet Singh, Siddharth Dhanvant Shangvi, C.S. Lakshmi, Sunil Ganguly and Mukul Kesavan, the Times reports. The Gates Foundation said it hopes the initiative will humanize the epidemic, according to the Times (Bhayana, Hindustan Times, 1/19). According to estimates released earlier this year, about 2.5 million people in India were living with HIV/AIDS in 2006 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/21/07).
