Nation and nationalism are key concepts in post-colonial literature and criticisms. A number of critics like Aijaz Ahmad and Partha Chatterjee have questioned the legitimacy of nationalist ideology and its claim to represent the nation, while a substantial body of contemporary postcolonial literature offers a utopian vision of identity beyond the barriers and boundaries of nation, ethnicity and race. Amitav Ghosh’s oeuvre shows not only critiquing of the notion of the nation but a journey beyond, as he develops his unique unit of understanding—namely that of the ‘family’ which is always extended rather than nuclear. This paper seeks to trace this development through his major works and to show how and to what extent the author is able to shake off the post-colonial temptation of narrating the nation in order to project ‘family’ as his unique metaphor of unity and understanding. Keywords: nation, ethnicity, race, family