Nalini Rajappan was born and raised in Irinjalakuda where she picked up her first pencil. She started drawing in college for her Bio and Chemistry classes, and she enjoyed it. But it was only after her marriage that she started taking painting seriously. Nalini enrolled at the Indian School Of Arts, where she was formally trained. This is where she built her foundation. Here, she started with water colours, but soon mastered complex art styles such as Tanjore and Mural painting. She also started exploring more complex challenges, such as portrait painting. Her first portrait was of her father late Kesavan (founder of Chandrika soaps), which she painted using oil paints.

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Nalini’s family describe her as travelling through a trance, where she doesn’t realize the time flying, when she paints. When not painting or at the hospital where she manages the administration, you can find her online, studying new styles of painting.