Born in Dec. 1952 in northern India, Kumkum spent a part of her childhood in the UK. The exposure thus to both Eastern and Western influences from the beginning brought a strong sense of balance and synthesis in her personality. She earned three academic degrees - in Home Science, Education and a Masters in Educational Administration (from the University of Toronto). She taught middle-school classes at a prestigious school in New Delhi. Her grounding in French (from her years with her diplomat husband in Paris) was considered an asset for the school.
Kumkum too, like her husband Rajiv Bhatia, comes from a deeply religious family, with her mother being a dedicated activist in a Chinmaya Mission centre in India. She herself developed an immense fascination for the Geeta since her college days. This triggered in her an interest in an extensive study of Indian scriptures. She presented a Paper on the impact of Hinduism and Buddhism on Indonesia to an informed audience at the Dutch Cultural Centre in Jakarta. She contributed generously her time, advice and effort for the Chinmaya Mission in Toronto, and is currently doing the same in the Mission's centre in Nairobi. She has attended many spiritual camps. "Life without religion is meaningless", she says.