It was while being admitted in a private hospital for childbirth that she came to know of her predicament.  Tragedies followed in quick succession.  The death of her husband, who had donated the disease to her; the birth of her child, whom she could not even breastfeed;  the stigma attached to her in her village appearing as posters...  Suicide was the only option she could see.

Luckily for her, the advice and counseling of the doctors at Mangalore, where she had been for childbirth, gave her the courage to face life.

Thus after 6 months, she became a female hearth worker under IAD under the PCH project.  Her main job was identifying and counseling HIV-affected sex workers.  After 1 year, she became the convenor of the IAD Plus Project with a better possibility to reach out to her sister-patients.  Her project aims at steps to prevent the occurance of AIDS, counseling for the affected, rehabilitation of sex workers etc.  According to Project Manager Rajendra Prasad Ray, the fact that the project is led by an HIV-infected person is a reason for its success.

Vimala was the first person to be administered the new hybrid medicine ‘Naimishika Rasayanam’, prepared using allopathy and ayurveda by IAD. According to her, after taking the medicine, her resistance has improved in addition to increased vigour.