This has been one of the toughest books to rate. Off-late I don't feel like rating any book as I think I am not qualified enough to do that. Since it's the only way to can express whether I liked a book or not I guess I have no other choice left.
My dilemma throughout the book was: how to rate a book that seems a bit outdated as far as today's situation is considered yet a book that also seems way ahead of its time? This book was released in 1990, I am quite sure people during that time never talked about mental illness openly, but this book tries to explore that. Amruta, the protagonist, is suffering from mental illness, and at some point, I also felt she was suffering from, schizophrenia. Her behaviour was volatile especially towards Somesheker an architect who falls in love with her. Their relationship was passionate, but it was toxic too. At times as a reader, I couldn't understand why Somesheker bothered to care for Amrutha after every outburst of hers' and how he kept forgiving her even though he promises himself he never would. On the other hand, I did feel pity for Amrutha too. She had her share of childhood suffering and was forced to marry a person she never knew at a very young age, and this had created a kind of trust issue in her. So she never trusted Someshaker even though he truly loved her and was honest towards her. There was just one scene where Somesheker talks about mental illness and asked Amrutha to consult a psychiatrist, but she ridicules him saying, no doctor can help her.
More than a story about Amrutha and Somesheker, this book was more like a character study. I tried to understand both the protagonist from their point of view, who were poles apart. For me, it was a page-turner, I couldn't stop myself from reading this once I started, and even when I had to stop at times, I kept thinking about the book. Well, although it messed with my head and I am not satisfied with the ending and many other things, yet I loved the book.