Love, Pain and Discovering Resilience: A Study of Nikita Singh's The Promise and After All This Time

Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(IV)| October2025 108 Love, Pain and Discovering Resilience: A Study of Nikita Singh’s The Promise and After All This Time Manisha Uttamrao Patil1, Dr. Shirishkumar V. Shinde2 1Assistant Professor and Ph.D. Research Scholar 2Associate Professor in English 1-2 Shankarrao Mohite Mahavidyalaya, Akluj Tal. Malshiras, Dist.Solapur Email- [email protected]m Manuscript ID: JRD -2025-171027 ISSN: 2230-9578 Volume 17 Issue 10(IV) Pp. 108-109 October 2025 Submitted: 25 Sept. 2025 Revised: 12 Oct.2025 Accepted: 15 Oct. 2025 Published: 31 Oct. 2025 Abstract This research paper studies about the two famous novels of Nikita Singh, The Promise (2012) and After All This Time (2015). Both these novels are excellent examples of Modern Indian love stories .People think these novels as trivial love stories, but these novels give deeper insight of sufferings, pain, resilience and forgiveness. The heroines in both the novels face diseases and loss but they turn out to be more powerful and look at themselves and to the world with new hope. Nikita gives her love stories a deep sense, she shows that love means not only happiness but it is the source to search forgiveness therapy, power to fight the difficult situation. Keywords-Nikita Singh, The Promise, After All This Time, Modern Indian Love Stories, Love, Illness, Emotional Growth, Female Strength, Self-Discovery Introduction When English literatures become popular in India, after 20th century Indian modern love stories grabbed its audience. Indian writers like Nikita Singh, Anuja Chauhan and Advaita Kala started projecting Indian families feelings and society in their romantic love stories.Nikita Singha young modern writer writes about Love, separation and reality. In the novels The Promise and After All This Time she shows how illness and pain impacts on our lives. Both the main charactersShambhavi ( The Promise) and Lavanya ( After All This Time ) goes through emotional pains and accepts the harsh realities of life. These stories show that love means not always perfection but it is a kind of lessons of life. Literature Review The very first chapter “She” of the novel ‘The Promise’, talks about, “True friendship needs conversation — through words, eyes and smiles— to make everything fine between friends. The word ‘Sorry’ holds no significance.” It means that real friends can solve their misunderstandings with each other. Just saying sorry is not enough. Bhatia (2018) says Nikita Singh’s novels gives voice to women’s pain and sufferings. Her novels reflect that even popular love stories can depict sufferings, pain, relations and modern stress in effective’s way. In both the Novels Love and suffering, pain makes main characters much stronger. Analysis A) Love, Illness, and Resilience Our both novels tell emotional tales about women whose lives change because of illness. In the Novel The Promise Shambhavi loves Arjun unconditionally, but her disease gives their relationship new challenge. After All This Time talks about the story of Lavanya who works in New York and detected as HIV positive. Quick Response Code: Website: https://jrdrvb.org/ DOI: Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work noncommercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations ae licensed under the idential terms. Address for correspondence: Manisha Uttamrao Patil, Assistant Professor and Ph.D. Research Scholar, Shankarrao Mohite Mahavidyalaya, Akluj, Tal. Malshiras, Dist. Solapur. How to cite this article: Manisha Uttamrao Patil, Dr. Shirishkumar V. Shinde (2025) Love, Pain and Discovering Resilience: A Study of Nikita Singh’s The Promise and After All This Time, Journal Research & Development,17(10(IV)), 108-109 Original Article Journal of Research and Development Peer Reviewed International, Open Access Journal. ISSN : 2230-9578 | Website: https://jrdrvb.org Volume-17, Issue-10(IV)| October2025 109 . These novels don’t end like typical love stories of marriage or victory of Love, but with self-discovery.These writing are simple, emotional, and personal. Readers feel close to the characters because the stories are told from their point of view. B) Illness as a Symbol In both the novels, illness is not about physical, mental but gives broader sight of social illness. Shambhavi’s illness shows the delicacy of love and Lavanya’s illness is symbol of fear, anxiety and loneliness.Nikita Singh writes about social fragility, fear and imperfection. She depicts that women’s values doesn’t reside in her beauty, but in her courage to accept the reality and move in her life.Illness in these books becomes a symbol of courage and selfdiscovery. C) Love and Healing Love is not perfect, but it teaches and heals. Arjun was with Shambhavi till her death. Shourya teaches Lavanya to forgive and believe in life once again. The male characters of Nikita Singh are emotional and understanding. They never dominated their partners but gave them supports to live life cheerfully. D) Women, Power and Society In western love stories women are always showed as balancing between work and relations. In Indian stories women are maintaining families, Culture and emotions vary confidently.Shambhavi and Lavanya are not rebelling against society instead they peacefully find their way out. Though they are not perfect modern women but in true sense they are courageous. Nikita Singh has portrayed the different side of typical male dominated society through her male characters Arjun and Shourya as loving and symphatetic towards their female partners. E) City Life and Inner Emptiness In both the novels cities like Delhi and New York play important roles. You may find city like attractive but it is holding hug emptiness inside. She tries to focus on the very important aspects of life that outwardly you find people are achieving, winning everything they want, but their inner selves are empty. Conclusion Novels, The Promise and After All This Time depicts that love stories can also be serious and meaningful.Her characters searches pain, hope and human emotions through love and sufferings. They become stronger through their struggles. Her Novels teach us that love means not perfections but it’s a sense of forgiveness,and power of resilience.Nikita Singh depicts life and beauty of humanity through the love stories of ordinary people. Works Cited 1. Singh, Nikita. The Promise. Penguin Random House India, 2012. 2. Singh, Nikita. After All This Time. Penguin Metro Reads, 2015. 3. https://nikitasbooks.com 4. https://en.wikipedia.org