"India is already home to almost three million HIV cases - outnumbered only by South Africa. But AIDS is still a disease stigmatised and shrouded in denial. In this groundbreaking anthology, seventeen of India's well-known writers go on the road to uncover their country's AIDS epidemic. William Dalrymple meets the devadasis ('temple women'), many of whom have become victims of HIV; Kiran Desai visits the coast of Andhra where the sex-workers are considered the most desirable and Salman Rushdie meets Indian transgenders. These writers travel the country to talk to housewives, vigilantes, homosexuals, police and sex-workers. Together they create a complex and gripping picture of AIDS in India: who it is affecting, how and why."--BOOK JACKET.