For a society that derives perverse thrill from stigmatising the victims of AIDS, the story of a young girl's unconquerable will to live despite being diagnosed HIV positive should come as an eye-opener.

If anyone thought that AIDS patients are condemned to die, they should see "From Tiya with Love" -- the documentary film directed by Mahen Sisodiya, which was screened at The American Centre here Thursday evening.

The message is one of invincible optimism in the face of death: if one has a hunger for life and has an attitude to match one can overcome anything, including the seemingly incurable AIDS. According to UNAIDS India, 5.1 million Indians suffer from AIDS.

This celebration of life mocks popular prejudices and pettiness that connive to make the life of an AIDS patient a living hell.

The film movingly dramatises the plight of parents who are driven to distraction and eventually to death by the scandalous discovery that their daughter is HIV positive since her birth. This sparks off bouts of remorse and lacerating soul-searching. Finally, Tiya's father traces the killer virus to the careless use of syringes while using intravenous drugs in his youthful days.

Tiya, of course, has to pay heavily for the indiscretions of her parents. The AIDS stigma brands marks her out for life: in a display of callous ignorance and killing indifference, she is rejected by one school after another thereby forcing her to live the life of a loner at a tender age. It's the end of innocence for Tiya; paradise is lost forever.

What redeems her from this anguish is Dear Diary -- Tiya's best friend, confidant and guide which inspires her to take on the daily quota of prejudices and humiliations that is the lot of HIV positive patients.

The film also expertly explodes some fond myths about the killer disease and exposes the blindness of those who relentlessly ostracise and ghettoise AIDS patients.

One of the myths about the disease is that only people like truck drivers and prostitutes, categorised as high-risk groups, are susceptible to contracting HIV infection. This is nothing but self-serving fancy.

AIDS is the great leveller; every one is vulnerable to the disease. And if latest advances in medicine are anything to go by, it will become curable like TB in the not too distant future.

But for that to happen, we first need a sustained mass awareness campaign on different aspects of the disease. Demystifying AIDS and treating it like any other disease could be effective in conquering pervasive prejudices and stigmatisation that force HIV positive patients and their families into hiding.