Fragile Equilibria: Social Marginality and the Struggle for Sustainable Livelihoods in Rohinton Mistrys a Fine Balance.

Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance presents an intense representation of social marginality and the precarious pursuit of sustainable livelihoods in 1970s India, a period marked by the unlawful imposition of the Emergency by Prime Minister Mrs Gandhi (1975), political coercion, caste oppression, and systemic economic vulnerability. The story is set against the backdrop of the National Emergency and centres on four diverse characters who come together and develop a bond while navigating an unforgiving social and political order in their own way. Despite relentless structural inequalities, their lives show persistence of dignity, a “fine balance” between survival and despair. This paper examines the convergence of caste hierarchies, state violence, and urban poverty to create a fragile equilibrium for the marginalised. Through close textual analysis, the study demonstrates how literature not only reflects but critiques systemic exploitation. By engaging with works on subalternity, trauma, and community resilience, this paper argues that A Fine Balance offers a humanising lens on survival strategies, fragile solidarities, and acts of quiet resistance. Ultimately, this analysis positions Mistry’s fiction as a work of art and socio-political text that deepens our understanding of marginalised lives and their enduring struggle for a sustainable, dignified existence.