Background: Health seeking and preventive behavior is directly influenced by knowledge and awareness about disease. The UN secretary general?s message on world AIDS day 2012 of Zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths by 2015 is achievable only if people know about the disease. We undertook this study to determine the level of awareness regarding HIV/AIDS in rural India and their perception of this fatal disease as it is an important determinant of ultimate preventive behavior. Methods: A systematically drawn convenience sample of 360 young women that had never been tested for HIV attending the Obstetric and Gynecology clinic formed the study subjects that responded to a preformed structured questionnaire including open and closed ended questions. Results: 70% females had heard about the terms HIV/AIDS and the main source of information was television. Only 17% felt they were vulnerable to infection, 36% knew that testing was provided free of cost and 18% knew of at least one correct intervention to prevent transmission. Conclusion: Level of knowledge for HIV/AIDS was poor among women of rural India and interventions are needed to improve this scenario.