Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character and one of the protagonists of the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. He is one of four main male characters in the show to appear in every episode of The Big Bang Theory, alongside Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter and Howard Wolowitz. Raj is based on a computer programmer that the show's co-creator, Bill Prady, knew when he was a programmer.
Character biography In the series, Raj is Howard's best friend. They have what Nayyar calls a "bromance". Raj works as an astrophysicist in the Physics Department at Caltech. It was revealed in "The Monster Isolation" that Raj did at least part of his higher education at the University of Cambridge, where he discovered his interest in astrophysics. He 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. Rajesh, who is normally called Raj or just by his surname Koothrappali, is from New Delhi, India. However, he despises Indian food, and his knowledge about Indian culture and Hinduism is often rebuked by Sheldon, who is seen to speak better Hindi than him (although this is contradicted by earlier episodes, in which Raj is shown speaking Hindi to the incomprehension of his friends, Sheldon included). In the show, he was born into a wealthy Malayali family and has five siblings, one of whom is Priya, a former on-again, off-again girlfriend of Leonard. Raj is normally seen wearing a layered combination of a printed shirt and sweater vest under a track top-style windbreaker with khakis or cargo pants and skate shoes. White briefs are Raj's underpants of choice. Raj wore a red cap in the pilot episode, but has not worn any headgear on a regular basis for the rest of the series run. Between seasons two and eleven, Raj styled his naturally curly hair with hair straighteners and hair gel "while trying to blend in" (although citing Howard as his main influence).
Personality In the show, 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 one of their colleagues, 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 those close to him to believe that he is somewhat feminine (as in "The Closure Alternative"), and others to mistakenly conclude that he is homosexual (a theory his sister mentioned in "The Herb Garden Germination" that had been held by members of their family), which he typically denies (even asserting his metrosexuality in "The Transporter Malfunction"), but which Howard often teases him over. In the show, one of Raj's biggest personality quirks is his tendency to speak or act inappropriately, often landing him in trouble or leading to an angry reaction from whomever he has upset. 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 of what he has interrupted. On another occasion, he openly discusses having had crushes on Penny and Bernadette directly in front of them, and unwittingly hurting Amy's feelings when he admits that he never had a crush on her after she asks. When socializing with his friends, despite his Indian accent, Raj is noted for using slang and using the word "dude", although on some occasions he appears to not understand American slang. He speaks fluent Hindi, but according to Sheldon, his mother tongue is English. When Raj offers to teach Sheldon Hindi in order to give him a challenge, and Sheldon in turn demonstrates his Hindi skills which he learnt at age eight, Raj admits that he never learned Hindi. 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.
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