Nina Rao learned traditional chants (bhajans) from her grandfather in a village in south India when she was nine years old. The chants quietly stayed with her until she rediscovered chanting with Krishna Das in New York in 1996. In 1998 she met her guru, Sri Siddhi Ma in the foothills of the Himalayas and spent time with her regularly for 19 years. Her childhood was spent living in and moving between many countries around the world and when she settled in New York her working life began in the banking world, moved into organizing and leading photographic wildlife safaris in Africa and India, and now since 1996, is Krishna Das' business manager and accompanist as well as chant leader on her own.