The Power of Dreams: Transformative Reflections on Savi Sharma’s This is Not Your Story

Abstract

Savi Sharma’s This is Not Your Story (2017) explores the relationship between aspiration, selfhood, and personal transformation through the interconnected lives of Shaurya, Miraya, Anubhav, and Kasturi. The novel foregrounds the emotional and psychological struggles experienced by individuals attempting to negotiate societal expectations, personal crises, and the pursuit of meaningful aspirations. This study examines how the characters reconstruct their identities through the pursuit of dreams, resilience, and self-discovery. The research employs Dan McAdams’s Narrative Identity Theory (McAdams, 2001) as a theoretical framework to analyse how individuals shape their identities through evolving life narratives that integrate past experiences, present conflicts, and future aspirations. Using a qualitative interpretative approach, the study investigates how narrative reconstruction contributes to identity formation and emotional transformation within the novel. The paper further examines how the characters’ aspirational journeys reflect broader questions of self-realisation, personal choice, and psychological resilience in contemporary motivational fiction. By situating the novel within the framework of narrative psychology and identity studies, the study seeks to contribute to the emerging academic discussion on contemporary Indian popular fiction and its representation of selfhood, transformation, and emotional resilience.