SELF-MAKING THROUGH ENTREPRENEURIAL AMBITION IN THE FICTION OF KARAN MAHAJAN

Abstract

Self-making is a continuous process through which individuals construct and reconstruct their identities in response to personal aspirations and social circumstances. This study examines the relationship between self-making and ambition in Karan Mahajan’s Family Planning (2008) and The Association of Small Bombs (2016). Using a qualitative close-reading approach, the paper analyses how selected characters attempt to define themselves within familial, social, political, and emotional constraints. In Family Planning, Rakesh Ahuja’s political aspirations and Arjun’s pursuit of music, romance, and personal independence represent contrasting forms of self-fashioning within a conflict-ridden family structure. In The Association of Small Bombs, Mansoor, Ayub, and Shockie pursue different forms of identity formation shaped by trauma, political involvement, survival, and violence. The comparative analysis shows that Mahajan does not present self-making as an entirely autonomous process or a straightforward movement toward success. Rather, individual ambition continually interacts with family expectations, social structures, political circumstances, and emotional vulnerability. The study argues that Mahajan’s fiction presents identity as unstable, relational, and continuously negotiated. Self-making therefore emerges not as a completed achievement but as an ongoing struggle between individual agency and the external forces that shape personal choice.