Ever since Herodotus reported that it was home to gold-digging ants, travelers have been intrigued by India in all its beguiling complexity. This superb anthology gives us some of the best fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that has been written about the worlds second most populous nation over the past two centuries. From Mark Twains puzzled fascination with Indian castes and customs, to Allen Ginsbergs awe at the countrys spiritual and natural splendors, or from J. R. Ackerleys delightful recollections of his visits with an eccentric gay Maharajah, to Gore Vidals unforgettable scene in his novel Creation, in which his character finally meets the Buddha and is bewilderedall twenty-five selections in India in Mind reveal a place that evokes, in the traveler, reactions ranging from fear and perplexity to astonishment and wonder.