Pfaff is the only child of Emilie Schenkl and Subhas Chandra Bose, who—with a view to attempting an armed attack on the British Raj with the help of Imperial Japan—left Schenkl and Pfaff in Europe, and moved to southeast Asia, when Pfaff was four months old. Pfaff was raised by her mother, who worked shifts in the trunk office during the postwar years to support the family, which included Pfaff's maternal grandmother. Pfaff was not given her father's last name at birth, and grew up as Anita Schenkl. Her father was not there with her as he was busy with his army Azad Hind Fauj and was brought up by her mother Emilie Schenkl.
