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.

In Their Own Story

Raj's principal characteristic until the season six finale is his inability to speak to or around unrelated women, a form of selective mutism. This was alluded to by Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, Leonard's mother, and Raj himself states he has selective mutism in "The Cornhusker Vortex." Raj is able to speak in the presence of women only when they are part of a crowd, if he drinks alcoholic beverages (or thinks he has), if he is under influence of other drugs, if he is unaware of their presence, or if the woman is deaf. He observes that this was an improvement over his previous affliction, in which the presence of women caused him to lose bladder control. In "The Dumpling Paradox," Leonard jokingly suggests cutting Raj in half so the group can play video games without Howard while Penny is in the room: Raj turns to Leonard and responds, "Oh, sure, cut the foreigner in half. There's a billion more where he came from." In "The Bat Jar Conjecture," Raj accidentally utters the words "good story," much to the surprise of his friends, but he immediately realizes Penny is there and covers his mouth with both hands. When the main characters take a train to an academic conference in San Francisco, Raj can talk to series guest Summer Glau while drinking beer, until Leonard inadvertently reveals the beer is non-alcoholic and that Raj is subject to a placebo effect.

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 is based on a computer programmer that the show's co-creator, Bill Prady, knew when he was a programmer.
• Raj's selective mutism was an improvement over his previous affliction, in which the presence of women caused him to lose bladder control.
• In "The Wiggly Finger Catalyst," Sheldon describes Raj's family wealth as 'halfway between Bruce Wayne and Scrooge McDuck.'
• 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.