Samhita was born in Chennai, India, but as the daughter of a diplomat grew up in India, Indonesia, Italy, Pakistan and Thailand. Interested in Hindu mythology from an early age, her illustrated version of The Mahabharatha was published by Tara Books in 1996, and went on to be translated into seven languages. Since then, she studied film and religion at Mount Holyoke College, USA, and wrote the text for the NY Times Bestseller Sita's Ramayana, also published by Tara Books.