No member of her family -- comprising her husband, their two industrialist sons and their grandchildren -- asked her why she was crying. Soon afterwards, as the AIDS awareness rallies winded through the streets and lanes of the city, the Patels lifted Gangaben into a car and deposited her at a private nursing home.

Gangaben's tryst with ill-health began 10 years ago, soon after she underwent a hysterectomy at a trust hospital in Vadodara. She returned home, but could never recover her former vigour. Ailments became a constant feature of her life; she lost weight and hair.

Finally, two years ago, her family took her to a reputed city hospital, where she was diagnosed to have full-blown AIDS. ``We were virtually thrown out of the hospital the moment they learnt that'', says her younger son Hemant bitterly, indicating just how severely misconceptions about the disease grip even the medical circles.

Even as the horrifying news sunk in, her family realised that Gangaben must have picked up the human immunodeficiency virus during a blood transfusion when she was hospitalised eight years ago. Today, she's counted among the 1000-odd full-blown AIDS patients and more than 4,000 HIV carriers in the city.

Like everyone of them, Gangaben doesn't know she has AIDS. But she does know that her sons are paying thousands every month for her treatment. ``It's ironical that she woke up early today -- World AIDS Day, an event she's unaware of -- and sobbed over her condition'', says her elder son Sanjay.

Since her condition was diagnosed, Gangaben has been treated at a private charitable nursing home by a number of doctors, including noted oncohematologist Bhardwaj Desai.

All the Patels' wealth, however, has been of little help to Gangaben. Dr Desai says that though medicines like Zidovir, Lamivir, Satvir, Norvir, Invirase and Hivid -- a course of each of which costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 30,000 -- are available in the city on prior intimation, there aren't any diagnostic facilities to weight their impact. ``One has to run to Mumbai to test the patients' immunity'', he says.

And if, unlike the Patels, one is unable to afford the medication, there is little on offer. ``Vadodara cannot help much then'', says Dr Desai. Not a single government hospital in the State has an isolation ward for AIDS patients. Knock on another door today, and there's every chance you'll be thrown out if you have AIDS. Like Gangaben was two years ago.