Then, when she was four-and-a-half years old, Krishnaveni was discovered to be HIV positive. She was also suffering from multiple abscesses all over her body. The orphanage abandoned her at the Children's Hospital, Egmore, Madras.

The ayahs (women employed to look after the children) at the hospital were no better than the orphanage employees. The fear of contracting the infection kept them miles away from the AIDS-infected baby. In order 'escape' from her, they regularly absented themselves from duty.

Today, both Krishnaveni and Ravi have been legally adopted by her.

For the children, their new life had just begun. Dr Manorama, though, was about to acquire a new world view. She discovered that no one was willing to take up a job at her ashram. Eventually, she was forced to employ HIV positive sex workers. It did not prove to be a workable solution.

But the lack of specialised institutions in India sees many of these children die painful and ignominious deaths. This, despite the fact that medical studies conducted in the West have proved that the average lifespan of an HIV positive child is only 10 years.

And, in this "average lifespan", there are a few simple pleasures these children would like to cherish. "Aunty, I want to go school. I have studied upto the fourth standard. I love school. I want to study a lot and work in a store. Will you please help me?" a wide-eyed little thing at the CHES ashram looked at me hopefully.

Vidyakar, on the other hand, would prefer it if all his inmates, including infants, were tested for the HIV virus. "I don't think there is anything wrong conducting this test. Of course, we should keep the results secret. But I feel tests are absolutely necessary; it helps us to give them proper care. We make sure that we do not discriminate against anyone. We have thousands of other inmates in our home, we have to think of their safety too."

In a room at Udavum Karangal, the 10 infants dressed in white are oblivious of the fact that those who look after them are just ayahs. They don't yet realise that they are orphans; that their fathers don't acknowledge their existence and their mothers have died of an incurable disease for which the world has not yet found a cure.

Unaware of the cruel future that awaits them, these infants chuckle and laugh, weep and cry just like any other children of their age. Meena gurgles and smiles, showing her toothless gums. Lily stares at us, without batting her huge eyes for minutes together. Sindhu wants to be rocked all the time.

In another room, a spastic little girl was groaning in pain. She does not even know that she has reached the last stage of her life. Lakshmi, too, holds on to life with a tenuous thread. She was pregnant when she was picked up from the streets by Vidyakar and gave birth to an HIV positive baby. The child was less than a year old when it died. Since then, Lakshmi has withdrawn into a shell; she does not talk or react in any manner.

Caring for the inmates is an daunting task, compounded by its own special set of problems. Dr Manorama, for example, offered free treatment to AIDS patients and sex workers and promptly lost her other patients. They did not want to be branded as suffering from AIDS.

Some of the volunteers of the ashram have even lost their jobs because of their association with AIDS victims. Sridharan, an ashram PRO, was earlier a catering contractor for marriages. "It was purely by chance that I came to know about this ashram. I became very attached to both Krishnaveni and Ravi. My photographs with them even appeared in the local weekly. And, the very next day, I lost two contracts. Those parties did not want to have anything to do with a man who kept AIDS children on his lap. Those photographs ended my contract business."

What society seems to forget is that children born to HIV positive mothers have only a 30 per cent chance of getting the virus themselves. And yet, the innocent are punished for no fault of their own. These children mark the arrival of a new generation which will be branded, ostracised and excommunicated for life. India, with the maximum number of AIDS patients in the world, will soon have the maximum number of AIDS orphans.