Chitra Ramanathan was born in Kerala, south India. Both a Visual artist and educator, she is known for her mixed media paintings. Her drawings and paintings were picked up by critics before she was ten. Her progress as a child artist included winning numerous silver trophies, coloring-in prizes from corporate sponsors such as Hindustan Unilever Limited, and her paintings being displayed at the Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkatta, India all by the time she turned twelve.