India was born in 1978 in North Carolina. Her father was an officer in the U. S. Navy and her mother was a popular actress in the Philippines. She had some doubts about her parentage, speculating that her real father could not marry her mother for some reason. She was called as a Slayer in 1993 while she was living in Japan where her father, a submarine commander, was stationed. Together with her watcher, she traveled all over Japan slaying vampires. India witnessed Spike and Drusilla during this time, but they never encountered India directly. Over a few years, India and her Watcher Christopher fell in love, but had to keep it a secret from the Watchers Council. Christopher even brought her a dog, which she named Mariposa.