Raj Koothrappali

Lore & Background

Raj is from New Delhi, India, and was born into a wealthy Malayali family with five siblings, one of whom is Priya, a former on-again, off-again girlfriend of Leonard. He regularly communicates with his parents, Dr. V. M. and Mrs. Koothrappali, back in India via webcam. A running gag is Raj portraying himself as having come from humble origins and growing up in poverty, only for his friends to remind him that his father is a gynaecologist, drives a Bentley (which he protests was a "lease"), and had servants. In "The Wiggly Finger Catalyst," Sheldon reveals Raj's family is "Richie Rich rich," which he explains is "halfway between Bruce Wayne and Scrooge McDuck."

Raj had selective mutism, which did not allow him to talk to women outside of his family unless he was under the influence of alcohol (or medication), until the season 6 finale. In "The Grasshopper Experiment," Penny inadvertently discovers that alcohol suppresses his mutism. In "The Bon Voyage Reaction," Raj's girlfriend Lucy breaks up with him, and the subsequent trauma apparently cures his mutism, allowing him to talk to Penny, Amy, and Bernadette while completely sober. However, he talks so much that the women become bored and irritated and start drinking to put up with him.

Reader's Guide

Raj is more patient and tolerant of Sheldon than Leonard, Penny, or Howard. Sheldon is completely oblivious to this and even casually cuts him off as a friend on one occasion to accommodate a friendship with Barry Kripke. Another recurring joke is his metrosexuality, which manifests itself in his appreciation for media generally associated with female patrons, such as the novel Eat, Pray, Love, the TV series Sex and the City and films featuring Sandra Bullock.

This has led others to mistakenly conclude that he is homosexual, which he typically denies, but which Howard often teases him over. One of Raj's biggest personality quirks is his tendency to speak or act inappropriately, often landing him in trouble. This was particularly pronounced when he was under the influence of alcohol, which could cause a Catch-22, since for years he needed alcohol to even speak to a woman, but the alcohol led to him saying the wrong things.

On one occasion, just as Leonard and Penny are about to have intercourse in their hotel room, Raj enters and proceeds to climb into Sheldon's recently vacated bed, completely oblivious. On another occasion, he openly discusses having had crushes on Penny and Bernadette directly in front of them, and unwittingly hurts Amy's feelings when he admits that he never had a crush on her after she asks. Raj can play the guitar and has formed a filk band called "Footprints on the Moon" with Howard (and later Bert).

They write songs about various fictional characters, such as "Thor and Doctor Jones," which tells the story of an imaginary encounter between Thor and Indiana Jones.

Did You Know?

• Raj's selective mutism was an improvement over his previous affliction, in which the presence of women caused him to lose bladder control.
• Raj's cousin Sanjay works in a call centre and is known to his friends as 'Dave from AT&T Customer Service.'
• Raj's mutism briefly returns in season 12 after agreeing to an arranged marriage with Anu, and he discovers he can overcome it by taking NyQuil when he has a cold.