Aniruddha Babar, PhD Tetso College, Dimapur Millions of years of evolution did not make man superior or next to the God. His delicate body and mind is still vulnerable and fragile. With the passage of time billions of species of Bacteria and Viruses also evolved and majority of them became formidable foes of the mankind. The Creator must be really wonderful. He created man but he also ensured that proper ‘checks and balances’ are maintained. Various diseases has imposed serious challenge to the present and future of mankind however, with the progress of medical science man has successfully managed these threats. Even though mankind has neutralized the threats of various diseases some of them remained unchallenged and one of those unchallenged assassinators is HIV- Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Fear, stigma and ignorance. That is what defined the HIV epidemic that has been raging through the world since the 1980s, killing thousands of people who may only have had a few weeks or months from diagnosis to death - if they even managed to be diagnosed before they died. 1 December 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day – a day created to raise awareness about HIV and the resulting AIDS epidemics. Since the beginning of the epidemic, according to World Health Organization; more than 70 million people have acquired the infection, and about 35 million people have died. Today, around 37 million worldwide live with HIV, of whom 22 million are on treatment. According to the recently published UNICEF report titled ‘Children, HIV and AIDS: The World in 2030’, in India, an estimated 120,000 children and adolescents aged 0-19 were living with HIV in 2017. In Pakistan, this number was 5,800, followed by Nepal (1,600) and Bangladesh (less than 1,000), In 2017, the estimated number of children under 5 years old newly diagnosed with HIV was 43 per cent lower than the comparable estimate in 2010. a decline greater than the 35 per cent recorded globally.The estimated share of those aged 0-14 living with HIV who had been initiated on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy (ART) was 73% in 2017, an increase of nearly 50 percentage points from 2010.The report however warned that by 2030, around 80 adolescents will be dying of AIDS every day if “we don’t accelerate progress in preventing transmission.”The report also mentioned that the current trends indicate AIDS-related deaths and new infections are slowing, but the downward trajectory is not happening fast enough which may help understanding the gravity of challenges that the society currently facing. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, Nagaland falls under the category of ‘generalised epidemic’ because of high HIV-prevalence rate among the antenatal clinics group.Published data also identified Dimapur, Kohima and Tuensang as the districts with the highest HIV-prevalence rate in Nagaland. The district-wise report on HIV scenario as of May 2018, however, revealed that the HIV-prevalence in the state has come down in the last five years.In Nagaland, with a population of around 20 lakh, 10,16,700 blood samples were screened between 1999 to 2018. Out of those samples, 22,878 were reported HIV positive, according to a report from the Nagaland State Aids Control Society (NSACS). Nagaland, a Christian state at present totally engulfed in the clutches of HIV. What has been observed from the available data is nothing but the evident recklessness of the young generation as majority of the cases these days are coming from heterosexual encounters among the age group of 18 to 45. This age group has also been termed as the vulnerable age group. Love is the vital necessity which every man and a woman throughout their life search for. Search for love take us on adventures of pleasure and pain. However, not all are wise enough to be able to distinguish between Love and the momentary Lust. However, there is no intention to disown ‘lust’ as unnatural or evil; also there is no reason whatsoever to brand lust as ‘sin’, however, what is expected here is to understand that the LUST alone cannot nourish the life of a human. Most of the cases of HIV transmission were found to be the results of reckless sexual encounters happened in the ‘heat’ of the moment; which may simply mean that people involved could not ‘MANAGE’ their responses to the momentary biological-psychological changes ‘sparked’ in their brain during the process of sexual stimulation. Let us first understand the fact that SEX does not happen ‘down-there’, but first it needs to take ‘form’ in the brains of the people involved in the action. Therefore, the culprit is not the ‘organs’ but the ‘untrained brain’ which gets blinded by the fire of millions of electric sparks due to sexual stimulation, experienced temporary short-circuit and as a result loses its ability to ‘rational thinking’. This must be the reason why almost all the HIV positive people became HIV positive in-spite of having good knowledge and understanding of the disease, its impact and socio-economic burden. Therefore, what may here be understood that the traditional approach to the sex education is certainly not sufficient. Young adults should be given proper, systematic, heavy-duty psychological training to help them to train their brain to act responsibly during ‘delicate’ situations and circumstances. There have been cultural as well as religious narratives floating through different cultures as to condemnation of the pre-marital or casual sex. From Christian theological perspective pre-marital sex has been considered as a sin, hence as evidence it is important to refer the Bible. "Have you not read," says Jesus, "that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?'" (Matthew 19:4-5; quoting from Genesis 1:27, 2:24). In this passage Scripture clearly mentions that sex is for marriage and marriage is for sex. Exclusively. That's because sex is not just a matter of casual recreation, hobby or simply a game to kill boredom. It's not just a pleasurable way of expressing mutual love. It's a question of two people becoming one flesh to give justice to the dictum of the Law of Nature as given by the creator. Further evidences can be found in the Apostle Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 6:16: "Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, 'The two will become one flesh.” Considering aforementioned theological discourse it may be understood that the creator wants humanity to reserve sex for marriage not because it's "bad", "dirty" or sinful but precisely because it is the most beautiful and spiritual way to experience the epitome of pleasure of union of man and a woman. Sex is a sacred mystery. It's a powerful bonding agent that shapes and affects the relationship between man and a woman as nothing else can. It is also important to understand that the sex also causes a free exchange of spiritual energies. A sex with a wrong person can create a spiritual-psychological havoc in the life. Therefore it has always been said that the sex is the heavenly pleasure on the Earth that can even take manand a woman to ‘spiritual enlightenment’. In many cultures sexual experience has been associated with godly encounter. Creator has enough reasons to make laws for the man. However, it is the man who breaks the law and as a result heavily pays for it. One of the purposes of this article Is not to inject theological doses, but to give different perspectives as to what has been said about casual sex. ‘Right to make Choice’ and liberty thereof have been well respected, protected and upheld by the supreme law of the land. However, the question haunts as to whether people in the vulnerable age group are really capable to understand the meaning of sex? Would they really be able to bear psychologicalburden that comes with ‘guilty pleasure’? Do people really understand the unfathomable depth of the meaning of love?, Is Marriage an ultimate, final deterrence to the menace of HIV? There have been instances in Nagaland and elsewhere in India where people have hidden their HIV status from their sexual partners. What kind of psychological and emotional solace the ‘infected’ people might be getting by infecting the same disease to their innocent partners whom they claimed to have loved? This is very serious question. On the other hand, there are people who are not willing to undergo the HIV TEST which is very simple and can be done free of cost. Many cases of HIV infection when diagnosed late has already progressed to the advance stages which actually diminishes the chances of survival of infected patient. Aforementioned analysis leads us to the direction of ‘Human Psychology’. Authorities, Care givers, Doctors, NGOs, Lawyers, Priests, Clergymen, Theologians should essentially take a psychological element into consideration while helping people to understand the dynamics of HIV Virus, its infection and management. It has been observed that the people attempt to indoctrinate people as to not to have sex till they get married, however, through this article it is urged to the humanityto face the hard-core fact that pre-marital and extra-marital sex has always been the reality of any given society in the world since the dawn of humanity and the introduction of “system of marriage”. HIV doesn’t see who is unmarried and who is married or who is having holy sex or sinful sex. There have been well documented cases wherein much married people got infected with the deadly disease due to infidelity of one of the partners. Therefore, along with regular sex education, people should be taught an art to manage their psychological outbursts and emotional impulsesbefore and during sex. Love and Sex goes hand in hand however, marriage is a union that protects the sanctity of ‘holy orgasm’ and divine ‘insemination’, but it cannot guarantee HIV free life. It is untrue to say that by rule married couples are protected from the attack of HIV virus. It is the mind that is culprit- a mind that one day can take you to the God, and the next day to the Prostitute. Let us understand the meaning of Love in the time of HIV. Let us act responsible. Let us wait for marriage to happen to experience the divine pleasure. Let us act at least sensible and responsible when caught in the ‘storm’ of emotions. Let us not lose control. Let us use CONDOMS. Let us fight HIV.
