My colleague Ryan stumbled upon a nice guide that explains the basics of equity and debt investment for Indians. It is available via the web-site for the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as the study material for the "Financial Markets (Beginners)" module of its certification programme.
I had read this guide before since it has been passed around for some time in emails, but I never knew its origin. If you want to begin investing in the Indian markets, you can learn the fundamentals through this guide. Even if you have been investing for a while, it never hurts to brush up your basics.
If you do invest, Deepak Shenoy has some advice for you.