India is both an ancient culture and a young society, with all the benefits and burdens of a long history. Despite belonging to an extremely diverse range of castes, tribes, classes, and religions, Indians are bound by a sense of shared reality, of collective experience. We are all part of a greater whole—an intricate network of thoughts and ideas that has acquired a high level of cohesiveness in a world permeated by information technology. More than ever before, we have the opportunity to have a greater awareness of what it means to be Indian. However, it’s all too easy to believe we know everything that’s to be known about India and Indianness just by virtue of being Indian. This often results in a very simplistic view of our country and our fellow citizens. So how do we go beyond stereotypes, and how do those of us who are part of this extraordinarily diverse culture and society get a better understanding of ourselves, both as individuals and in relation to others? This book attempts to provide a nuanced answer to the question of just who we are by probing the collective Indian mind, which is at the heart of the experience of being Indian.

Rajesh Kasturirangan, a cognitive scientist, uses an original multidisciplinary approach, drawn from the cognitive sciences in particular, to understand the Indian mind and, through this understanding, grasp who we are as a nation in the twenty-first century.