The title of A Fine Balance plays on the idea of finding a middle ground between despair and hope. Vasantrao tells Maneck that the secret to life lies in finding that balance. All of the main characters confront the fact that the demoralizing nature of life in India in 1975 makes hope difficult to come by, but necessary for survival.

Ishvar and Om find balance by being counterpoints of hope and despair. Ishvar is optimistic even at the worst of times. He’s jovial and appears better fed than his nephew, who has a lean and hungry look. On the other hand, Om is perpetually dissatisfied. He frets that Dina is cheating him, so he wants to cut her out of the sewing operation. The two men counterbalance one another until time and adversity mellow the extreme outlook of each. Over time, Ishvar becomes a little more realistic and Om a little less judgmental.

Dina offsets her natural distrust with her loneliness. At the beginning of the book, Dina is overly cautious and suspicious of both her boarder and the tailors. By the end of the year they spend together, she regards them as family. This transformation suggests that she has found her own personal balance.