Prasanna grew up in Chennai, India and fell in love with the guitar at age of five after hearing his neighbor play. He received his first guitar when he was ten years old and would try to play Tamil and Hindi film songs and imitate the sounds of his sister's Carnatic singing with the instrument. Prasanna's interest in Western pop music developed when his father's colleague gave him some cassette tapes with songs by the Bee Gees, ABBA, Toto, Peaches and Herb, and the Pointer Sisters

Prasanna received a Bachelor's degree in Naval Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1992. He also graduated magna cum laude from the Berklee College of Music, Boston

A regular collaborator with musicians, including Steve Smith, Victor Wooten, Vijay Iyer, George Brooks and Trilok Gurtu, Prasanna leads his own bands, is an admired composer and performs throughout the world. Late one recent New York evening, Prasanna was good enough to share his thoughts on music and life with Scroll.