Chitrangdha Singh
Author of The Knock
“A strong woman does not ask permission to own her work, her body or her choices.”
In The Knock, Chitrangdha Singh writes about a woman who owns both her professional and sexual autonomy. The novel follows Ananya Sharma through love, desire, friendship, ambition and loss without reducing her to a lesson or asking her to apologise for the life she chooses.
TGEP: What kind of woman did you want Ananya to be?
Chitrangdha Singh: I wanted her to be fully human. She is ambitious, sensual, vulnerable, intelligent and sometimes uncertain. Strength does not mean being untouched by pain. It means continuing to own your choices even after life changes you.
TGEP: Why was sexual autonomy central to the story?
Chitrangdha Singh: Women are often allowed professional ambition in fiction only if their personal lives remain acceptable to others. I wanted Ananya to own both. Her body and her desire are not punishments, scandals or rewards. They are part of her humanity.
TGEP: Does the novel ask readers to approve of every choice she makes?
Chitrangdha Singh: No. It asks them to see her without reducing her. Readers may disagree with her, but judgement is not the same as understanding. I was more interested in emotional truth than moral instruction.
TGEP: What does Pune contribute to the novel?
Chitrangdha Singh: Pune carries memory, rain, movement and contradiction. Its balconies, streets, private rooms and changing relationships create an emotional geography around Ananya.
TGEP: The book gives importance to women choosing one another. Why?
Chitrangdha Singh: Romantic love is powerful, but friendship can be the place where a woman is seen without performance. When the world asks women to compete, distrust or shrink, choosing one another becomes an act of strength.
TGEP: You work in finance. Does that disciplined world enter your fiction?
Chitrangdha Singh: Yes, though not always directly. Finance values structure and precision. Fiction allows uncertainty and emotional disorder. Moving between those worlds helps me observe both the visible decisions people make and the hidden reasons behind them.
TGEP: What do you hope women carry from the novel?
Chitrangdha Singh: The knowledge that they do not have to become smaller to make other people comfortable. A woman can be ambitious, desiring, wounded, successful and unfinished at the same time.
TGEP: What does the title The Knock mean to you?
Chitrangdha Singh: It is the moment truth arrives and refuses to remain outside. It may be a memory, a person, a loss or a part of yourself you have avoided. Eventually, you have to open the door.