PVLF 2026

Interview With Madhurima Vidyarthi, Author of “The School for Bad Girls”

Madhurima’s The School for Bad Girls reimagines Kadambini Ganguly’s fight for education, resilience & liberation—echoing struggles still relevant today.
on Sep 29, 2025

Frontlist: Your novel The School for Bad Girls traces the extraordinary journey of Kadambini Ganguly, one of India’s first women doctors. How does her story embody the idea of “Literacy to Liberation”?

Madhurima: Kadambini was one of the first women who realised how the power of education could be used as a tool and a weapon in their struggle for freedom. In a way, it was a parallel freedom struggle, gathering momentum at the same time as India was trying to grasp the identity of a nation. The harsh norms of the patriarchal society of the times and the viciousness of those who considered themselves the moral guardians of these women meant that they had complete control over their lives. In a way that today would be akin to slavery. It was a handful of enlightened families who realised that education should not be denied to girls, and then some others who encouraged these girls to dream further. Once the girls mastered the skills of literacy, numeracy, and reasoning, there was very little they couldn’t dream of achieving. They could present their own cogent arguments, be their own advocate,s and form their own sisterhoods to fight their own battles. Unfortunately, these battles still need to be fough,t and the story of Kadambini is a reminder that women still need to arm themselves with these very weapons.

Frontlist: As a doctor yourself, what drew you to fictionalize Kadambini’s life, and how did your medical background influence the way you told her story?

Madhurima: In a way, this is my own origin story. I love standing in front of an audience and saying, ‘I stand here in front of you as a woman doctor

because of Kadambini Ganguly. ’ I get goosebumps every time I say that. I am still a woman doctor in a deeply unfair and deeply patriarchal world. Much more change is needed before society accepts them as equals. I am also related to her training overseas, especially as both of us have professional accreditation from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh!

In terms of storytelling, there are one or two medical episodes in the book, so those were enjoyable to write. The book ends with her admission to Medical College, so there wasn’t really scope for much more. But I did try to put in what I thought her personal emotions would have been like. For example, how she copes with the pressure of doing something that has never been done before, how she feels when Sarala is taken away suddenly from school, leaving her to face the entrance examination alon,e and how she reacts when her professional pride is hurt. These are deeply personal moments, not only for me, but for all of us.

Frontlist: Nineteenth-century Calcutta was a hub of social reform but also deep resistance to women’s education. How did you balance historical detail with storytelling while bringing this world alive?

Madhurima: There is a very interesting dichotomy here. There was a group of zealous reformers who wanted to emancipate women, but differed in their thoughts about the various degrees of emancipation. The same applied to the education of women and had previously applied to the upliftment of widows. I had great fun weaving these arguments into the narrative and have the characters discussing the contradictions they presented. Even amongst the students themselves, there were differences in opinion about how much education was appropriate. That is an issue that endures to this day. Society is most interested in how much is ‘right’ for a girl or what her qualities or qualifications should be.

The question of balancing historical detail was very, very difficult, especially as I worked from some fascinating primary texts. But at the end of the day, it is a story and it has to be told in a way that makes the reader want to know more.

Frontlist: The school in your novel welcomed widows and unmarried girls, disregarding caste and social boundaries. What relevance do you see in that radical vision for education today?

Madhurima: As long as social inequalities remain, that vision will always be relevant. Inequalities of any kind, rituals, taboos, and centuries-old notions must be questioned before they are accepted as set in stone. Which brings us back to the basic truth of learning to think and then speaking out on the strength of our knowledge and conviction.

Frontlist: Kadambini faced overwhelming odds in her pursuit of medicine. What message of resilience and empowerment do you hope readers—especially young women—take away from her story?

Madhurima: Know what you want and then plot a careful course towards that goal. You may or may not get help on the way, but let no one else tell you when to stop or how much to do or how to dress or how to behave or laugh, talk, or sit. Don’t be scared of shedding the conditioning you may have grown up with or calling out people who try to bully you into conforming. Times today are hopefully a little better than they used to be, but we still have a long, long way to go.

Frontlist: You’ve written across formats—children’s books, scripts, short fiction. How was writing this historical novel different from your earlier works?

Madhurima: The world-building had to be done carefully, and because there were so many real people in the book, I had to do a lot of reading about their lives and works. It helped that I could explore the settings so thoroughly, walking around and trying to imagine what it would have been like a hundred and fifty years ago. In the beginning, it was a bit of a tightrope walk because I had to be careful about historical accuracy, but then the story took over, and that fear eased off.

Frontlist: Fiction often reveals truths that history leaves hidden. Do you see your book as a way of reclaiming forgotten voices like Kadambini’s for a new generation?

Madhurima: I certainly hope so. I have learnt so much myself while researching this book - it’s thrown up ideas for so many more! Not only Kadambini, but there are so many characters, both women and men, whose stories are incredible. We must reclaim those stories. They are beyond inspirational.

Frontlist: If Kadambini Ganguly could speak to young women in today’s India, what message do you think she would give about the link between education and liberation?

Madhurima: I hope she will say what I have made her say in the book. ‘To question, you must learn. To challenge what is written – any stipulation, regulation, law, text – you must learn to read. To question what is unwritten, you must learn to think. That is the aim of higher education.’