Ahalya’s Awakening: A journey of breaking from conditioning to self-actualisation

Ahalya’s Awakening by Kavita Kane attempts to investigate the role of mythology in guiding an individual to self-discovery and empowerment while breaking away from social conditioning. Kavita Kane’s reimagined mythological tale of Ahalya, a misunderstood and marginalized cursed woman, finds her liberation by rediscovering herself in solitude. This paper utilizes Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943) to understand Ahalya’s journey from struggle to awakening. The paper reflects upon the fundamentals of human motivation, especially the drivers to self-actualization. Through the story of Ahalya, the paper tries to unfold layers of sociocultural conditioning and false consciousness creating hindrances in realizing one’s true potential and self, which is often lost in the quest of fitting into the already set discourse. This paper highlights the importance of mythological accounts in making sense of the complexities of the human psyche, even in contemporary times.