At the That Takes Ovaries session at Jadavpur University. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Breaking the silence, traditionally expected of women, is central to every That Takes Ovaries session.

It stresses the importance of speaking out and sharing, so that the listeners gain courage and the speaker?s confidence is renewed.

The latest edition of this ?open mike play-reading and story-sharing sessions? was held at the KP Basu memorial hall of Jadavpur University (JU) on Thursday. It was conducted by Thoughtshop Foundation (which was also responsible for the first ?Ovaries? session outside the USA, in Calcutta, in 2002) and West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society.

The title harks back to the best-selling book by US author Rivika Solomon That Takes Ovaries: Bold Females and their Brazen Acts.

?This is the 10th or 11th session so far,? said anchor Mira Kakkar. ?The response has always been overwhelming. We have done it in all kinds of venues. This time round, we?re celebrating International Women?s Day with sessions in Jadavpur University, Vidyasagar College (March 6) and St Xavier?s College (March 8).?

A good many of those present at the session hosted by JU?s School of Women?s Studies were from various women?s organisations and social help groups. Chaitali, a member of an NGO that provides assistance and vocational training to AIDS victims, spoke of how she was haunted by the fact that a woman patient had been forced to give away her child (to save it from infection) and had, in reaction, adopted a child. Reena, herself an AIDS patient, related how her associations with an NGO infused in her an indomitable courage and desire to help other victims.

Monika Mukherjee Chaudhury won one of the symbolic ?golden ovaries? when she related her persistent fight against sexual harassment at college and workplace at a time when there were no laws to curb violators.

Many students also came forward with tales of eve-teasing and wife abuse. True tales of twins who were abused and pushed into flesh trade by family members, a young student snatched away from her studies to be married, a kidnapped girl who was not accepted by her parents on her return? all raised questions about the society we live in.

If some in the audience wondered whether Chaitali should have smuggled a pregnant AIDS patient into a nursing home without informing the authorities about her medical history, they also heard how Reena had been hounded out of her home and para soon after her husband died of the disease.

The programme concluded with the screening of a short promo and a signature collection campaign for the We Can project, which aims at raising a five million-strong change-makers.