Born into a well-known family of musicians in Allahabad, the Chatterjee sisters were prompted to learn flute by their parents Robin and Krishna Chatterjee, who were classical Hindustani vocalists. Robin, whose work led the family to live in Afghanistan for a time, suggested to his daughters that they become flautists, to fulfill a dream he had never been able to live up to. After returning to India, the sisters began their flute training under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna. In their teenage years, they began studying with flautist guru Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.
After completing their basic education, the sisters were awarded the Nuffic scholarship from the Indian Embassy in The Netherlands. They studied world music at the Rotterdam Conservatory, earning a certification with distinction for Uitvoerend Musicus (Performing Musician) and Docenten Musicus (Music Teacher) in 1998. Returning to India, they then completed a Sangeet Prabhakar (bachelor of music degree) from Prayag Sangeet Samiti in Allahabad in 2001. They were honoured with the performance medals for flute, with Suchismita getting the gold and Debopriya earning the silver medal. They continued at Prayag Sangeet Samiti, earning a Sangeet Pravin (master's degree of music) in 2005 with their medal positions reversed—Debopriya received gold and Suchismita, silver.
