Dr. Reshu Singh, writing under the evocative pen name Sumadra, is a bilingual poet, scholar, and storyteller whose work bridges the richness of Indian literary traditions with urgent contemporary realities. An Assistant Professor of English affiliated with a Central University in New Delhi, she has contributed extensively to literature, feminist discourse, aesthetics, and language studies through acclaimed research, edited volumes, and bestselling books. With This Is On Record – A Woman’s Fight To Be Heard, Sumadra delivers a powerful and emotionally charged narrative inspired by real events, giving voice to the silences surrounding workplace harassment, institutional betrayal, and resistance. Her writing is marked by intellectual depth, emotional honesty, and a fearless commitment to truth and empowerment.
The Literature Times: This Is On Record is described as being inspired by an actual event. What first compelled you to transform this experience into a novel?
Dr. Reshu Singh: I can’t really trace this story back to one specific incident. It grew out of the many real moments and experiences I witnessed around me. Over time, those silent pains and unspoken emotions stayed with me, and eventually, they found their way onto the page. And that’s how this story was born out of my pen.
The Literature Times: Rupali’s story unfolds through diary entries, memos, gossip, and unsent letters. Why did you choose this fragmented narrative structure, and what does it add to the reader’s experience?
Dr. Reshu Singh: What I saw and heard around me didn’t feel like ordinary pain. So often, people simply brush it aside with, “Oh, he’s just like that… ignore him.” Initially, I planned it to turn in drama or play form. But I wanted readers to truly see and feel that pain. Almost like looking through a window or watching it unfold from above, close enough to understand what so many Rupalis silently go through every day. The epistolary form helped me do that astonishingly. It opened up different perspectives which I wanted to, and allowed the emotions to feel more personal and real. The subtle details we often miss in other forms of storytelling found their space here, and that’s what made this narrative so powerful for me. The most powerful tool in this format was depicting various perspectives. One incident but different perspectives challenged it, as if nothing happened or it may take you in the journey of in-depth pain and struggle. I strongly believe no other form could have helped the story to hold its grip on the readers. A reader wrote to me that reading this book is like she is beside Rupali and feeling her pain as she turns pages one by one.
The Literature Times: Workplace harassment is often discussed in whispers rather than openly. What conversations do you hope this book will initiate among readers and institutions?
Dr. Reshu Singh: The responses I’ve received from readers assure me that they truly felt the emotions I wanted to convey, and for me, that means the purpose of this story has been fulfilled. I only hope it continues to reach more and more readers, touching hearts, sparking understanding, and giving voice to emotions that often remain unspoken. Many institutions choosing to display this book to spread awareness and this initiative tells me that the system is still alive and willing to listen, where Go silence attitude will be challenged and POSH compliance will not be merely a check box/tick mark formality. The countless testimonies readers have shared through different platforms show that people are no longer staying silent, they are becoming aware, finding courage, and rising to fight back. And perhaps that is the most powerful change of all: what was once dismissed with “Ignore him” is slowly turning into “Report about him.”
The Literature Times: Rupali faces not only harassment, but also gaslighting and systemic retaliation. In your view, why do institutions often fail survivors instead of supporting them?
Dr. Reshu Singh: There are many reasons behind this. Often, the reputation of the institution comes first, then the influence or backing of the alleged accused, while the victim’s voice is pushed to the very end, sometimes lost entirely in internal politics. I am not claiming this is true in every single case, but in the majority of situations, this is the harsh reality, including countless incidents that are never even reported. Very few victims find the strength, support, or opportunity to continue their fight all the way to the courtroom. And, sometimes endlessly even after winning the cases. In the case of Rupali, she is fortunate to have self-strength, support from her family, her awareness of POSH Act, which contributes to making her empowered. For this purpose, I am working on a book which is on POSH in simplified form and would be useful for everyone which will be without difficult legal jargon.
The Literature Times: As both an academic and a creative writer, how do your scholarly interests influence your fiction writing?
Dr. Reshu Singh: My research journey gave me wide exposure and, more importantly, taught me how to write with honesty and depth. It shaped my analytical thinking and helped me understand characters not as fiction, but as real people living around us every day. My PhD work on Saadat Hasan Manto deeply influenced the way I look at reality, not as something distant, but as something unfolding silently around us. Manto taught me that pain does not always need heavy literary devices to make an impact; sometimes the simplest words carry the deepest wounds. I believe literature should speak to common people in a language and tone they truly connect with. The way Manto portrayed the horrors and cruel truths of Partition, I tried to capture the realities I witnessed in my own surroundings, the stories often buried in files, dismissed as workplace rumours, or ignored into silence. I simply gave them a voice.
The Literature Times: Your work often engages with themes of identity, ethics, and empowerment. How does This Is On Record continue or challenge those themes in your literary journey?
Dr. Reshu Singh: I believe I am meant to write about such themes. My work on transgender lives, women’s empowerment, and similar subjects has never been superficial. It has always been rooted in deep research, observation, and emotional understanding. I definitely see myself continuing to write literature on these realities in the future. But writing on such themes comes with immense challenges, especially when you are connected to institutions where many boundaries silently exist. To write truthfully, a writer cannot remain detached. You have to live the pain of the victim while writing her story, and at the same time, step into the mindset of the accused to understand the brutality of that reality. When writing about transgender experiences, you must emotionally enter their world, their isolation, their struggles, and their fight for identity. And believe me, carrying those emotions while writing is far more painful than simply reading about them.
The Literature Times: The title itself is striking and confrontational. What does “This Is On Record” signify to you personally and politically?
Dr. Reshu Singh: This Is On Record is not merely a title for me; it is a declaration. Personally, it signifies the refusal to remain silent about experiences that institutions, workplaces, and societies often attempt to erase, dilute, or dismiss. It represents memory as resistance, the act of documenting what was meant to be forgotten. Politically, the phrase carries a deeper challenge to structures of power. Records are traditionally controlled by institutions, authorities, and official narratives. By saying “This Is On Record,” I reclaim that authority. It becomes an assertion that women’s voices, testimonies, struggles, and truths are not whispers confined to private suffering; they are documented realities that demand acknowledgment and accountability. As an author, I see the book as both testimony and archive. It stands for every working woman who has been silenced, gaslighted, or made invisible within professional and social systems. The title insists that these experiences can no longer be denied, buried, or rewritten by those in power. Ultimately, “This Is On Record” is about transforming pain into documented truth, and documented truth into collective consciousness.
The Literature Times: Was there any part of writing this novel that emotionally challenged you or changed your own perspective?
Dr. Reshu Singh: Yes, there were many moments during the writing process that were emotionally difficult. This novel required me to revisit silences, wounds, and realities that society often encourages women to suppress in the name of professionalism, dignity, or survival. Writing certain scenes felt less like fiction and more like confronting truths that are deeply embedded in our institutional and social structures. What challenged me most was understanding how normalized injustice has become, how people learn to endure humiliation, exclusion, or emotional violence quietly because speaking up often comes with consequences. As I wrote, I realized the novel was not only about one woman’s struggle, but about the collective emotional burden carried by countless working women whose experiences rarely become part of official narratives. The process also changed my perspective in an important way. Initially, I saw silence primarily as helplessness, but while writing, I began to understand that silence can also be strategic, conditioned, and born out of survival. That realization made me approach the characters with greater compassion rather than judgment. At the same time, the act of writing became transformative. It reaffirmed my belief that literature is not just storytelling; it is documentation, resistance, and witness. The novel changed me by making me more conscious of how power operates subtly through institutions, language, and social behavior, and how important it is to keep recording what many would prefer to erase.
The Literature Times: Through Rupali’s courage, the novel explores how resistance can inspire others to break their silence. Do you believe literature can genuinely influence social change?
Dr. Reshu Singh: Absolutely. Literature may not change society overnight, but it has the power to change consciousness, and lasting social change often begins there. Stories shape the way people see themselves, others, and the systems they live within. A novel can enter emotional and moral spaces that laws, policies, or public debates sometimes cannot reach. Through Rupali’s journey, I wanted to show that resistance is rarely loud or heroic in the conventional sense. Often, it begins with a single person deciding that silence is no longer acceptable. That act alone can become contagious. When readers recognize their own fears, compromises, or suppressed truths in a character, literature creates a sense of collective experience. People begin to realize they are not isolated in their struggles. Historically, literature has always played a role in questioning injustice, challenging dominant narratives, and giving voice to marginalized experiences. It may not directly create revolutions, but it certainly prepares the emotional and intellectual ground for them. A book can start conversations that institutions avoid. It can make silence uncomfortable. It can humanize issues that statistics alone cannot convey. For me, the purpose of this novel is not simply to tell a story, but to encourage reflection and courage. If even a few readers feel seen, begin questioning normalized injustices, or gather the strength to speak their truth after reading it, then literature has already performed an act of social change.
The Literature Times: What would you like readers—especially women navigating professional spaces—to carry with them after finishing this book?
Dr. Reshu Singh: I would want readers to carry with them the understanding that their dignity, voice, and truth matter, even in environments that attempt to minimize or silence them. Too often, women are conditioned to tolerate discomfort, injustice, exclusion, or emotional exhaustion in order to appear “professional,” “adjusting,” or “resilient.” This book questions that normalization. Through Rupali’s journey, I hope readers recognize that silence should never be mistaken for weakness, and speaking up should never be seen as rebellion against professionalism. There is immense strength in acknowledging one’s experiences honestly, even when systems try to invalidate them. I also want readers to remember that they are not alone. Many women carry invisible battles within workplaces, battles against bias, power structures, isolation, and the constant pressure to prove themselves. If the novel creates even a small sense of solidarity and recognition, then it has served an important purpose. At a deeper level, I hope the book encourages readers to trust their inner voice. Institutions may deny experiences, people may distort narratives, and society may ask women to remain silent for the sake of comfort or reputation, but truth has its own endurance. Sometimes, the simple act of refusing to disappear becomes an act of resistance. Ultimately, I want readers to finish the book with courage: the courage to document, to question, to speak, to support one another, and most importantly, to never allow their humanity to be erased in the pursuit of professional survival.
